Classification
Class
Magnoliopsida Brongn.
Order
Geraniales Juss. ex Bercht. & J.Presl
Family
Geraniaceae
Genus
Geranium L.
 Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Geranium solanderi Carolin, Proc. Linn. Soc. New South Wales 89: 350 (1964)
Synonymy:
  • = Geranium dissectum f. tasmanica Gand.
  • = Geranium pilosum G.Forst., Fl. Ins. Austr. 91 (1786) nom. inval., nom. nud.
  • = Geranium pilosum Sol. ex Willd., Sp. Pl., ed. 4. 706 (1800) nom. illeg.
  • = Geranium dissectum var. pilosum Hook.f., Bot. Antarct. Voy. III. (Fl. Tasman.) Part I, 56 (1855)
  • = Geranium dissectum var. australe Benth., Fl. Austral. 1, 296 (1863)
  • ≡ Geranium carolinianum var. australe (Benth.) Fosberg (1937)
  • = Geranium drummondii Carolin, Proc. Linn. Soc. New South Wales 89: 353, t. 6(4) (1965)
Vernacular Name(s):
Matua-kūmara; pukupuku; turnip-rooted geranium
 Description

Perennial herb with napiform or cylindric taproot to c. 2.5 cm diam.; caulorrhiza short and thick, bearing long weakly ascending flowering stems. Hairs variable; longer hairs straight to slightly curved; glandular hairs short and inconspicuous. Basal lvs: petiole to 30 cm long, with fine, straight or curved long hairs and shorter straight and crisped retrorse hairs; lamina to c. 7 cm diam., reniform to orbicular, lobed to 3/4-⅞ way to midrib, glabrous or densely hairy above; lobes (5)–7, obovate; larger lobes with (3)–5–(9) teeth; median and larger lateral teeth ± oblong, usually obtuse. Cauline lvs similar to basal but smaller, usually 3–5-lobed; teeth usually 3–5 per lobe. Peduncle and pedicels with hairs as on petioles; bracteoles lanceolate or narrow-triangular; fls usually in pairs, occasionally solitary. Sepals ovate or elliptic-ovate; outer sepals c. 5.5 × 3.5 mm excluding mucro; inner sepals slightly narrower; hairs straight or slightly curved, antrorse and ascending. Petals to c. 7.5 × 4.5 mm, obovate, rose-pink. Mericarp hairy; beak to c. 15 mm long. Seed c. 2 × 1.6 mm diam., subglobular to oblong, dark reddish brown or almost black; dorsal alveolae deep, usually 4–6-sided, isodiametric or longer than wide.

[From: Webb et al. (1988) Flora of New Zealand. Volume 4.]

 Biostatus
Indigenous (Non-endemic)
 Phenology

Flowering: Oct.–May.

 Bibliography
Aedo, C. 2017: Revision of Geranium (Geraniaceae) in the Western and Central Pacific Area. Systematic Botany Monographs 102: 1–240.
Aedo, C. 2023: A Monograph of the genus Geranium L. (Geraniaceae). Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Madrid.
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.
Bentham, G. 1863: Flora Australiensis. Edition 1.
Carolin, R.C. 1965: The genus Geranium L. in the south western Pacific area. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 89: 326–361.
de Lange, P.J.; Gardner, R.O.; Sykes, W.R.; Crowcroft, G.M.; Cameron, E.K.; Stalker, F.; Christian, M.L.; Braggins, J.E. 2005: Vascular flora of Norfolk Island: some additions and taxonomic notes. New Zealand Journal of Botany 43(2): 563–596.
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Barkla J.W.; Courtney, S.P.; Champion, P.D.; Perrie, L.R.; Beadel, S.N.; Ford, K.A.; Breitwieser, I.; Schönberger, I.; Hindmarsh-Walls, R.; Heenan, P.B.; Ladley, K. 2018: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2017. New Zealand Threat Classification Series. No. 22. [Declining]
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Champion, P.D.; Courtney, S.P.; Heenan, P.B.; Barkla, J.W.; Cameron, E.K.; Norton, D.A.; Hitchmough, R.A. 2013: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2012. New Zealand Threat Classification Series 3. Department of Conservation, Wellington. [Declining]
Forster, J.G.A. 1786: Florulae Insularum Australium Prodromus. Dietrich, Göttingen.
Gardner, R.O. 1984: Geranium solanderi and allies in New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 22: 127–134.
Hooker, J.D. 1855–1857 ("1860"): The Botany of the Antarctic Voyage of H.M. Discovery Ships Erebus and Terror in the Years 1839–1843, under the command of Captain Sir James Clark Ross. III. Flora Tasmaniae. Vol. I. Dicoteledones. Lovell Reeve, London.
Willdenow, C.L. von 1800: Species Plantarum. Vol. 3(1). Edition 4.