With glossy green leaves and tiny white flowers clustered on curved stems, Rubia peregrina appears similar to Galium heldreichii but can easily be distinguished when the fruits develop; those of Galium are dull brown but R. peregrina has berries, green at first but becoming shiny black.

Like other plants with the english name madder, its roots produce a dye, dyer’s madder (Tinctria peregrina) produces a red dye which until recently was used to colour the celebratory easter eggs traditional in Greece. The roots of wild madder create an orange dye, which has been used since ancient times.