The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network

Species

Geranium gardneri

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-)

Common Name(s)

gardner's Geranium

Authority

Geranium gardneri de Lange

Family

Geraniaceae

Flora Category

Vascular - Exotic

Structural Class

Dicotyledonous Herbs other than Composites

Habitat

Weed of rough pasture, road and streetside verges, derelict land, urban waste, coastal scrub and grassland

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. potentillioides

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).

This page last updated on 27 Sep 2014