Reseda luteola L.

Spice In the field

Family: RESEDACEAE

Genus: Reseda

Catalan common name: Disciplinant. Gabarró. Galsa. Gualda. Paiola.

Spanish common name: Cetro de Ceres. Gualda. Hierba lanaria.

Province distribution: Balearic Islands. Barcelona. Castelló. Girona. Tarragona. València.

Distribution in the islands: Mallorca. Menorca. Ibiza. Formentera. Cabrera.

General distribution (Phytogeography): Some regions

IUCN Category: LCLeast concern

Flowering time: JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Life-forms: Hemicryptophyte.

Habitats: Cultivated fields, path and road sides, disturbed zones. Cultivated fields, path and road sides.

Characteristics: This herb lives for two years, it spends the first one in a shape of a rosette of leaves along the ground; in the second one it flowers and dies. The leaves are long, whole but with a typically wavy margin, this feature allows us to distinguish this species from other Reseda. The inflorescence is a long spike which can reach more than a metre in height. The flowers are small, yellow and form capsular fruits which remain erect on the stem. It lives in disturbed places and wasteland, when it is in flower the inflorescences stand out above the rest of the herbs in the field. It flowers at the end of spring to summer.