Rubia tinctorumL.

dyer's madder

WFO wfo-0000298644 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Rubia tinctorum, photographed by Anna Petrosyan
fig. a Anna Petrosyan, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-10-31 / obs. 166599201
Rubia tinctorum, photographed by Anna Petrosyan
fig. b Anna Petrosyan, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 166599245
Rubia tinctorum, photographed by Anna Petrosyan
fig. c Anna Petrosyan, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 166471110
Rubia tinctorum, photographed by Anna Petrosyan
fig. d Anna Petrosyan, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 166471543
Rubia tinctorum, photographed by Anna Petrosyan
fig. e Anna Petrosyan, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 166280512
Rubia tinctorum, photographed by Olena V. Vakarenko
fig. f Olena V. Vakarenko, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 180607058
Rubia tinctorum, photographed by Anna Petrosyan
fig. g Anna Petrosyan, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 162490082
Rubia tinctorum, photographed by Anna Petrosyan
fig. h Anna Petrosyan, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 163998668

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 29 botanical countries

Regions where Rubia tinctorum is native: Afghanistan, Cyprus, East Aegean Is., Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Lebanon-Syria, North Caucasus, Palestine, Tadzhikistan, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Xinjiang, Pakistan, Vietnam, West Himalaya, Albania, Greece, Italy, Kriti, Krym, NW. Balkan Pen., Sicilia, South European Russia, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine AfghanistanCyprusEast Aegean Is.IranIraqKazakhstanKirgizstanLebanon-SyriaNorth CaucasusPalestineTadzhikistanTranscaucasusTürkiyeTurkmenistanUzbekistanXinjiangPakistanVietnamWest HimalayaAlbaniaGreeceItalyKritiKrymNW. Balkan Pen.SiciliaSouth European RussiaTürkiye-in-EuropeUkraine
Native distribution of Rubia tinctorum, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Afghanistan AFG ASIA-TEMPERATE
Cyprus CYP
East Aegean Is. EAI
Iran IRN
Iraq IRQ
Kazakhstan KAZ
Kirgizstan KGZ
Lebanon-Syria LBS
North Caucasus NCS
Palestine PAL
Tadzhikistan TZK
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR
Turkmenistan TKM
Uzbekistan UZB
Xinjiang CHX
Albania ALB EUROPE
Greece GRC
Italy ITA
Kriti KRI
Krym KRY
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Sicilia SIC
South European Russia RUS
Türkiye-in-Europe TUE
Ukraine UKR
Pakistan PAK ASIA-TROPICAL
Vietnam VIE
West Himalaya WHM

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 14 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Galium rubia E.H.L.Krause
  • Rubia acaliculata Cav.
  • Rubia iberica (Fisch. ex DC.) K.Koch
  • Rubia peregrina subsp. tinctorum (L.) Bonnier & Layens
  • Rubia sativa Guadagno
  • Rubia sylvestris Mill.
  • Rubia tinctoria Salisb.
  • Rubia tinctorum f. petiolaris Sommier & Levier
  • Rubia tinctorum var. culta Alef.
  • Rubia tinctorum var. grandifolia K.Koch
  • Rubia tinctorum var. iberica Fisch. ex DC.
  • Rubia tinctorum var. latifolia Texidor
  • Rubia tinctorum var. pubescens Ledeb.
  • Rubia tinctorum var. sativa Pollini

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.