A low spreading shrub, Plocama calabrica, forms dark green mats on limestone rocky ground, whose appearance is unremarkable until early summer, when they become spattered with clusters of small pink, tubular flowers.   The pleasant appearance of the flowering plant is decried by the unpleasant odour of the crushed leaves, which is reflected in its common English name, stinking madder; plants with the English name of madder are a source of dye.

The roots of the plant produce a red dye, which was traditionally used in many parts of Greece to stain eggs red for the Easter game of tsougrisma.