Rubia
Sign in to saveAlso known as madder
Rubia is the type genus of the Rubiaceae family of flowering plants, which also contains Coffea (coffee). It contains around 80 species of perennial scrambling or climbing herbs and subshrubs native to the Old World.
OverviewAI-generated
Rubia is a genus within the plant kingdom, classified under the phylum Tracheophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Gentianales, and family Rubiaceae. It is commonly referred to as Russian soap root. The genus has a native range that includes Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Altay, Amur, Angola, Assam, Azores, Baleares, Bangladesh, Borneo, and Botswana.
Records of the genus are held by institutions such as ECOSUR, CAS, BRIT, US, and GH. These records document occurrences in Mexico, the United States, the Philippines, China, and Honduras. A total of 240,505 occurrences have been logged, with 355 specific records and 282 media items available in one database. Additionally, 1,479 scientific articles reference the genus.
Synthesized by Vinony from 24 facts across 7 sources: Wikidata, GBIF, PubMed, Gbif Occ, Plants of the World, iDigBio, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Species
GENUS
- KingdomPlantae
- PhylumTracheophyta
- ClassMagnoliopsida
- OrderGentianales
- FamilyRubiaceae
Common Name: Russian soap root
via GBIF · Kew POWO
Museum specimens
- Specimen records
- 355
- With media
- 282
- Family
- Rubiaceae
- Collections
- ECOSUR, CAS, BRIT, US, GH, UCSB
- Recorded in
- Mexico, United States, Philippines, China, Honduras, Kenya, Spain, Palestinian Territory
Research
1,479 papers- Cytotoxic and Antitumor Agents from Genus Rubia.Chemistry & biodiversity · 2024
- Rubia cordifolia L. extract ameliorates vitiligo by inhibiting the CXCL10/CXCL9/STAT1 signaling pathway.Journal of ethnopharmacology · 2025
- Anthraquinone Production from Cell and Organ Cultures of Rubia Species: An Overview.Metabolites · 2022
- A comprehensive review of Rubia cordifolia L.: Traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacological activities, and clinical applications.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2022
- Quinone derivatives from the genus Rubia and their bioactivities.Chemistry & biodiversity · 2014
via PubMed
~5 min read
Encyclopedic overview
6 sectionsContents
- Uses
- History
- Species
- References
- Further reading
- External links
Rubia is the type genus of the Rubiaceae family of flowering plants, which also contains Coffea (coffee). It contains around 80 species of perennial scrambling or climbing herbs and subshrubs native to the Old World.
The genus and its best-known species are commonly known as madder, e.g. Rubia tinctorum (common madder), Rubia peregrina (wild madder), and Rubia cordifolia (Indian madder).
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Rubia” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.