Geum divergens
Common names
geum, avens
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites
Flower colours
Green, White
Detailed description
Short, stout herb up to 180 mm tall at flowering. Rhizome stout, woody, and creeping, clothed with long persistent, fibrous leaf base remnants. Leaves rugose, adaxially initially dull light green fading to yellowish-red, abaxially paler. Basal leaves numerous, up to 60 mm long, imparipinnate; lateral leaflets 2-4(-6) pairs, minute, terminal leaflet conspicuous, 20-35 mm long, orbicular-reniform, indistinctly lobed, coarsely crenate-dentate; margins densely ciliate with long white hairs, and minute pink hydathodes; adaxial surface otherwise sparsely villous, abaxial glabrescent to glabrous. Scapes up to 180 mm tall, slender, densely pubescent, hairs in mixtures of short and long eglandular hairs; bracts 2-5, up to 20 mm long, lanceolate, toothed, incised, rarely pinnate. Flowers 1-3(-5), up to 35 mm diameter. Calyx-lobes ovate-lanceolate, acute to acuminate, sometimes with minute bracteoles at the base, pubescent. Petals 12-15 mm long, white, obovate, obtuse. Disc green. Anthers yellow. Achenes pilose, gradually narrowed into a long glabrous, hooked style remnant.
Similar taxa
Allied to Geum uniflorum Buchanan with which it shares a strongly rhizomatous growth habit and large flowers. From that species it is distinguished by its larger overall dimensions, densely compact, leafy rosettes; leaves which are rugose, pale green above fading to yellowish red with age; dentate-crenate leaf margins which are densely fringed with white hairs and minute pink hydathodes; pubescent petioles and peduncles with intermixed long unicellular eglandular hairs; and 1-5 white flowers up to 35 mm diameter, with a central green eye and yellow anthers.
Distribution
Endemic. New Zealand: South Island, Hanmer Range (Miromiro, Mt Captain, Mt Charon)
Habitat
Subalpine to alpine (c.1300-1600 m a.s.l.). Colonising sandstone rock (crevices, ledges, shattered rock surfaces), fine colluvium, and erosion pavement in subalpine forest, scrub and tussock grassland.
Current conservation status
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2022-2023 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website. This report includes replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Previous assessments can be found here.
- Conservation status of vascular plants in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2023. 2024. Peter J. de Lange, Jane Gosden, Shannel P. Courtney, Alexander J. Fergus, John W. Barkla, Sarah M. Beadel, Paul D. Champion, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Troy Makan and Pascale Michel Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2023 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: RR
Threats
Not Threatened - listed because it occupies a very small area within which it is very common.
Detailed taxonomy
Genus
Family
Synonyms
Oncostylus divergens (Cheeseman) F.Bolle
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
November - December
Fruiting
January - February
Life cycle and dispersal
Pappate achenes are dispersed by wind (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Propagation technique
Easily grown in pots in an alpine house, and in cooler climates within a rock garden. Best grown from fresh seed.
Other information
Etymology
geum: Possibly from the Greek geuo ‘to give a pleasant flavour’, the roots of some species being aromatic.
divergens: The name divergens refers to the flower colour of this species, which in the type is yellow, and so marked this species out from all of the other white-flowered New Zealand species. However all wild plants seen have white flowers, and it is now known that upon drying the white petals of all New Zealand Geum fade to yellow. As the type of Geum divergens was named 23 years after its collection it seems that during the time that elapsed between the initial collection and description the white petals of the specimen had faded to yellow. This, of course, caused considerable confusion with field botanists who were searching the Hanmer Range for an apparently unique yellow-flowered Geum for some 77 years! Description based on herbarium material.
Chromosome number
2n = 70
Previous conservation statuses
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2022-2023 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website. This report includes replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Previous assessments can be found here.
- Conservation status of vascular plants in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2023. 2024. Peter J. de Lange, Jane Gosden, Shannel P. Courtney, Alexander J. Fergus, John W. Barkla, Sarah M. Beadel, Paul D. Champion, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Troy Makan and Pascale Michel Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2017 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: DP, RR
2012 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: RR
2009 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon
2004 | Range Restricted
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Allan, H.H. 1961: Flora of New Zealand. Vol. I. Government Printer, Wellington.
Cheeseman, T. F. 1916: New species of plants. Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand 48: 210-215.
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
Attribution
Fact Sheet Prepared by P.J. de Lange (1 August 2004). Description based on Allan (1961) and Cheeseman (1915)
Some of this factsheet information is derived from Flora of New Zealand Online and is used under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 New Zealand licence.