Cynanchica abbreviata, commonly known as woodruff, is a species of flowering plant in the family Rubiaceae that is endemic to Naxos and Amorgos in Greece.[1] It was first formally described in 1901 by Eugen von Halácsy who gave it the name Asperula lutea var. abbreviata in Conspectus Florae Graecae.[2] In 1943, Karl Heinz Rechinger raised the variety to species status as Asperula abbreviata in Denkschriften der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften / Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Classe.[3] In 2020, it was reclassified into the newly erected genus Cynanchica.
Cynanchica abbreviata appears as a small green moss-like plant, with small (1in) pale pink flowers, on relatively long stems, it has a compact cushion of small, green, needle-like, leaves.
Cynanchica abbreviata flowers around May-June, and grows best in a rock garden, trough or crevice.