Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Centranthus ruber subsp. ruber
Common name
Red Valerian, Kiss-me-quick
Family
Valerianaceae
Where found
Mostly ACT and nearby. Occasionally elsewhere. Woodland, grassy areas, roadsides, disturbed sites, and rocky areas.
Notes
Introduced perennial herb or shrub to about 1 m high. Hairless. Leaves opposite each other. Lower leaves mostly 3.5–12 cm long, 10–50 mm wide, stalked, margins entire. Upper leaves stalkless, becoming relatively wider, margins of the leaves near the flower clusters often toothed. Flowers pink to rose-red, rarely white, tubular, the slender tube 7–11 mm long, with 5 lobes each 2–3 mm long, the upper lobe by itself with a spur on the back 4–8 mm long, the four lower lobes together. Flowers in dense rounded or elongated many-flowered clusters. Flowering: mainly August–December.
PlantNET description: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=in&name=Centranthus~ruber (accessed 7 January, 2021)
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