Geranium brevicaule
Synonyms
Geranium sessiliflorum subp. novae-zelandiae Carolin var. novae-zelandiae; Geranium sessiliflorum var. glabrum Kunth; Geranium sessiliflorum var. maculatum G.Simpson et J.S.Thomson
Family
Geraniaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Native
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
GERBRE
Chromosome number
2n = 52
Current conservation status
The threat classification status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2017 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website This report includes a statistical summary and brief notes on changes since 2012 and replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Authors: By Peter J. de Lange, Jeremy R. Rolfe, John W. Barkla, Shannel P. Courtney, Paul D. Champion, Leon R. Perrie, Sarah M. Beadel, Kerry A. Ford, Ilse Breitwieser, Ines Schönberger, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Peter B. Heenan and Kate Ladley. Please note, threat classifications are often suggested by authors when publications fall between NZTCS assessment periods – a suggested threat classification status has not been assessed by the NZTCS panel.
Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2017 | Not Threatened | Qualifiers: SO
Previous conservation statuses
2012 | Not Threatened
2009 | Not Threatened
2004 | Not Threatened
Distribution
Indigenous. North, South and Stewart Islands. In the N. Island present south of Auckland. Common elsewhere. Present in Australia in the south-east and Tasmania
Habitat
Coastal to subalpine (0-1200 m a.s.l.). In open ground such as short or tall tussock grassland, frost flats, clay pans, freshly deposited alluvium or on rock outcrops.
Wetland plant indicator status rating
Information derived from the revised national wetland plant list prepared to assist councils in delineating and monitoring wetlands (Clarkson et al., 2021 Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research Contract Report LC3975 for Hawke’s Bay Regional Council). The national plant list categorises plants by the extent to which they are found in wetlands and not ‘drylands’. The indicator status ratings are OBL (obligate wetland), FACW (facultative wetland), FAC (facultative), FACU (facultative upland), and UPL (obligate upland).
FACU: Facultative Upland
Occasionally is a hydrophyte but usually occurs in uplands (non-wetlands).
Features
Herbs 2.5-15.5 cm tall. Rootstock 3.2-10.5 mm diam., without fusiform roots. Basal leaves in a persistent rosette; lamina 7.8-25.6 × 8.9-31.8 mm, polygonal in outline, cordate (with basal leaf segments downward), palmatifid (divided for 0.53-0.74 of its length), pilose, with appressed, eglandular hairs; segments 5-7, obtriangular, 1.4-4.7 mm at the base; petioles up to 130 mm long, with patent to retrorse, appressed, eglandular hairs 0.3-1.2 mm long; stipules 2.7-8.8 × 0.9-2.5 mm, with scattered eglandular hairs on both surfaces and on the margin. Inflorescence with cymules 1-flowered, solitary; peduncles 0-1.1(-1.6) cm long, with patent to retrorse, eglandular hairs 0.15-1.1 mm long; bracteoles 2-6.6 × 0.6-1.3 mm, linear-lanceolate, with scattered eglandular hairs on both surfaces and on the margin; pedicels 33-430 mm long, with patent to retrorse, eglandular hairs 0.15-1.1 mm long; pedicel not overtopping the subtending leaf. Sepals (3.3-)4.4-5.7(-7.1) × 1.4-3.1 mm, lanceolate, with scarious margins 0.1-0.2 mm wide, with erect-patent, eglandular hairs 0.3-0.6 mm long on the abaxial side (patent hairs 1-1.7 mm long on the margin), glabrescent adaxially. Petals 2.8-5.5(-6.5) × 1-3.1 mm, entire, without claw, glabrous, rarely with few cilia on the basal margin, deep pink to white. Filaments 1.6-3.0 mm long, yellowish, glabrous on both sides, ciliate on the basal margin, with hairs up to 0.1-0.2 mm long; anthers 0.4-0.7 × 0.2-0.7 mm, yellowish. Nectaries glabrous. Gynoecium 2-3.4 mm long, unknown color. Fruit 8.4-17.6 mm long; mericarps 2.2-3.6 × 1.0-1.7 mm, smooth, with erect-patent, eglandular hairs 0.2-1.1 mm long, brownish; rostrum 5.1-11.7 mm long, without a narrowed apex, with erect-patent, eglandular hairs 0.1-0.6 mm long; stigmatic remains 0.9-1.2(-1.6) mm long, with 5 hairy lobes. Seeds 1.5-2.8 × 0.7-1.4 mm, finely reticulate; hilum 1/6 as long as the perimeter.
Similar taxa
Easily recognised from other indigenous and naturalised Geranium species in NZ by small, compact, growth habit, stout taproot, persistent basal leaves, very short flowering stems (mostly shorter than basal leaves) and smooth seeds. It is a variable species and numerous colour morphs are known, the most common forms have either green or purple leaves. Plants with green mottled purple or brown leaves have been known as G. sessiliflorum var. maculatum - a colour variant no longer regarded as distinct.
Flowering
Year round
Flower colours
Red/Pink, White
Fruiting
Year round
Life cycle
Seed dispersed by wind and ballistic projection (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Propagation technique
Easily grown from fresh seed. Various colour morphs have a genetic basis. With careful selection some attractive forms could be marketed. Excellent pot plant. Ideal for dry, well drained, sunny locations.
Etymology
geranium: From the Greek geranos ‘crane’, the fruit of the plant resembling the head and beak of this bird, hence the common name cranesbill.
brevicaule: With a short stem
Where To Buy
Not commercially available.
TAXONOMIC NOTES
The most recent treatment of the genus confines G. sessiliflorum Cav. to South America (see Aedo, et al 2005). NZPCN agrees that Australasian plants do not match the S. American plants, and so the earliest available name for Australasian plants is G. brevicaule Hook.f. But there remain problems within New Zealand plants referred by Aedo et al. (2005) to G. brevicaule (e.g., the status of G. sessiliflorum var. arenarium G.Simpson et J.S.Thomson, and also a range of potentially distinct races currently treated within a broad circumscription of G. brevicaule).
Attribution
Fact Sheet by P.J. de Lange 8 June 2006: Description from Aedo et al. (2005).
References and further reading
Aedo, C.; Navarroa, C.; Alarcon, M.L. 2005: Taxonomic revision of Geranium sections Andina and Chilensia (Geraniaceae). Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 149(1): 1-68
Thorsen, M. J.; Dickinson, K. J. M.; Seddon, P. J. 2009. Seed dispersal systems in the New Zealand flora. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 11: 285-309
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Geranium brevicaule Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/geranium-brevicaule/ (Date website was queried)