Stats

Lifespan

Annual

Size

Small

Diet

Photosynthetic

Biome

Temperate grassland

Range

Europe

Movement

Sessile

Breeding

Seeds

Defense

Camouflage

Status

Common

About

A sprawling, low-growing annual herb with whorls of pointed leaves and tiny funnel-shaped pink-lilac flowers, each cluster ringed by a collar of leafy bracts. It is one of the few Rubiaceae species found growing wild as a common lawn and field weed across temperate regions.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   seed

   A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2. 2.
   sprout

   A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3. 3.
   sapling

   A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4. 4.
   mature

   Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

Learn more

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Taxonomy

Kingdom

Plantae

Phylum

Tracheophyta

Class

Magnoliopsida

Order

Gentianales

Family

Rubiaceae

Genus

Sherardia

Species

Sherardia arvensis