Centranthus ruber (L.) DC.
spur valerian
Glabrous perennial herb; stems 30-80 cm tall, ascending, robust, usually glaucous, branching from base. Lvs opposite, cauline, variable on one plant; lower lvs of main stem lanceolate, 3-10-(17) × 1-3-(5) cm, entire, petiolate; upper lvs of main stem deltate-acuminate to ovate, smaller than lower lvs, often irregularly toothed, amplexicaul; lvs of side shoots smaller, ovate-lanceolate, usually amplexicaul. Cyme up to 25 × 10 cm, of many, pedicellate fls. Fls usually deep pink to magenta, sometimes white. Corolla tube 5-10 mm long, somewhat > spur. Fr. narrow-ovoid, flattened, 3-4 mm long.
N.: throughout, common in Auckland City and near Wellington; S.: Nelson, Canterbury, coastal and C. Otago.
S.W. Europe, Mediterranean 1878
Roadsides, embankments, cliffs, wasteland, coastal habitats.
FL Nov-Jun.
N.Z. material can be referred to subsp. ruber. Although corolla colour is highly variable it is of little taxonomic value, being inherited in a simple Mendelian manner; pink is dominant to magenta [Sorbrinho, L. G., Port. Acta Biol. (ser. A) 1: 385-390 (1946)]. This attractive sp. is sometimes grown in gardens.
