Geranium gardneri
Common names
Gardner’s geranium
Biostatus
Exotic
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites
Similar taxa
Geranium homeanum which differs by the larger carrot-smelling leaves with reddish undersides, less hairy stems, larger flowers, and seeds. Has been treated in New Zealand as Geranium solanderi “coarse hairs” but DNA places it not with the G. solanderi complex but with G. potentilloides.
Habitat
Weed of rough pasture, road and streetside verges, derelict land, urban waste, coastal scrub and grassland.
Conservation status
Not applicable
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Geraniaceae
Ecology
Flowering
Throughout the year
Fruiting
Throughout the year
Year naturalised
c.1860
Origin
Probably Australia, also established on Norfolk Island.
Reason for introduction
Probably a seed contaminant in goods transported by shipping from Australia, as first site of introduction in New Zealand was the Port of Auckland.
Life cycle and dispersal
Perennial. Plants self compatible, seeding freely. Seed dispersed by wind, ballistic projection and possibly attachment (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Other information
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.
gardneri: Commemorating the New Zealand botanist Rhys O. Gardner (1949-)
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.
GERGAR
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Thorsen MJ, Dickinson KJM, Seddon PJ. 2009. Seed dispersal systems in the New Zealand flora. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 11: 285–309.