Common Madder
The Common Madder (Rubia tinctorium) is a flowering, herbaceous, perennial plant in the Rubiaceae family of bedstraw and coffee. It is also known as Rose Madder, Dyer’s Madder, qand Turkey Red Madder. It is used to make red dye for leather.
It can grow up to 150 centimetres (60 inches) tall.
It has evergreen leaves about 5-10 centimetres (2-4 inches) long and 2-3 centimetres (about an inch) wide. The leaves appear in whorls of 4-7 star-like shapes around the central stem.
The Common Madder is a climbing plant. It uses tiny hooks at the leaves and stems to latch onto a tree or plant.
The roots grow to over 100 centimetres (39 inches) long and produce a red coloured dye called rose madder, due to the acid ruberthyrin.
The flowers are very small, less than one centimetre in diameter, with five pale-yellow petals.
The Common Madder blooms from June to August in the Northern Hemisphere, followed by red to black round berries.
Photographed in the Luxembourg Garden, Paris, France, September 2023
Photographer: Martina Nicolls
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