Class
Classification
Subordinate Taxa
Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Geraniaceae
Description
Herbs, subshrubs, or shrubs, occasionally tree-like. Lvs alternate or opposite, mostly simple and lobed, less often entire or compound, usually stipulate. Fls in few- to many-flowered umbels, rarely solitary, ☿, actinomorphic to somewhat zygomorphic, axillary; bracts present or 0. Sepals (4)–5, persistent, usually free, less commonly connate to 1/2 way; uppermost sepal sometimes spurred. Petals usually 5, sometimes 2 or 4, rarely 0, usually imbricate, occasionally distant, rarely contorted. Stamens 2–(3)× as many as petals, sometimes some lacking anthers; filaments free or connate at base; anthers 2-locular, versatile. Ovary superior, (2)–3–5-celled, beaked; ovules 1–2 in each loculus, pendulous; style adhering to beak, with 5 stigmatic branches, the outer part often separating at fruiting and forming 5 long awns attached to the apex of the central rachis. Fr. lobed, dry, with 1 seed per carpel, breaking from the beak into 1–(2)-seeded mericarps with styles usually persistent. Seed with 0 or little endosperm.
[From: Webb et al. (1988) Flora of New Zealand. Volume 4.]
Biostatus
| Category | Number |
|---|---|
| Indigenous (Endemic) | 5 |
| Indigenous (Non-endemic) | 7 |
| Exotic: Fully Naturalised | 21 |
| Exotic: Casual | 14 |
| Total | 47 |
Phenology
Fruiting: Nov.–Feb.
Bibliography
Connor, H.E. 1977: The Poisonous Plants in New Zealand. Edition 2. Government Printer, Wellington.
Cronquist, A. 1988: The evolution and classification of flowering plants. The New York Botanic Gardens, New York.
Mabberley, D.J. 2008: Mabberley's plant book, a portable dictionary of plants, their classification and uses. Edition 3. Cambridge University Press.
