Family |
Rubiaceae
Sherardia arvensis
L.
Sherardia arvensis L.
First published in Sp. Pl.: 102 (1753).
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 3, p. 294, Pl. CXLIX, 3; 1983)
Description
Life-form & habit: Annual, 10–30 cm tall, branching from the base into prostrate or ascending shoots.
Leaves: Lower leaves opposite; the others spread in whorls of four to six. Blades are spatulate, sharply pointed and rough along the margins.
Inflorescence & flowers: Four to eight nearly stalkless flowers form terminal heads, surrounded by ovate-oblong bracts joined at the base and exceeding the flowers. The pale-lilac corolla has a slender, gradually widening tube and four shorter, oblong lobes.
Fruit: Dry fruit with rough surface, crowned by the enlarging calyx teeth spreading as a six-pointed star.
Flowering and habitat
Phenology: Flowering March–May.
Habitat & elevation: Gardens and fields.
Distribution
Lebanese distribution: Saida, Khalde, Aouzai, Beirut, Tripoli, Chemlan, Jabal Terbol, Bikfaya, Antoura, Aley, Sarada, Marjayyoun, Beqaa, Qornet Chehwan and Kfertay.
Syrian distribution: Latakia, east of Banias, Bhamra, Ain Halakim, Hosu Masgid, south of Safita, Zabadani, Massadi, Soueida, Homs–Hamra, Aleppo, Oudehi, Damascus and the Ghouta.
Native range: Albania, Algeria, Altay, Austria, Azores, Baleares, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canary Is., Central European Russia, Corse, Cyprus, Czechia-Slovakia, Denmark, East Aegean Is., East European Russia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kriti, Krym, Lebanon-Syria, Libya, Madeira, Morocco, Netherlands, North Caucasus, North European Russia, Norway, NW. Balkan Pen., Palestine, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sardegna, Saudi Arabia, Selvagens, Sicilia, Sinai, South European Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Transcaucasus, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Türkiye, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine, West Siberia.
Introduced into: Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Bermuda, Bolivia, British Columbia, California, Cape Provinces, Chatham Is., Chile Central, China Southeast, Colombia, Costa Rica, Crozet Is., Cuba, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Haiti, Hawaii, Illinois, Japan, Kentucky, Kermadec Is., KwaZulu-Natal, Maryland, Mexico Central, Mozambique, New South Wales, New York, New Zealand North, New Zealand South, Norfolk Is., Northwest European Russia, Pennsylvania, Peru, Primorye, South Australia, Sudan-South Sudan, Taiwan, Tasmania, Tennessee, Uruguay, Vermont, Victoria, Western Australia, Zimbabwe.