Geranium rubricum
Common name
Red Hills geranium
Synonyms
None—first described in 2017
Family
Geraniaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Native
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites
Current conservation status
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2017 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website. This report includes a statistical summary and brief notes on changes since 2012 and replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants.
Please note, threat classifications are often suggested by authors when publications fall between NZTCS assessment periods – an interim threat classification status has not been assessed by the NZTCS panel.
- Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2017 . 2018. Peter J. de Lange, Jeremy R. Rolfe, John W. Barkla, Shannel P. Courtney, Paul D. Champion, Leon R. Perrie, Sarah M. Beadel, Kerry A. Ford, Ilse Breitwieser, Ines Schönberger, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Peter B. Heenan and Kate Ladley. Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2017 | Threatened – Nationally Endangered | Qualifiers: RR, St
Distribution
Endemic. South Island. Red Hills (Richmond Range).
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.
rubricum: The specific epithet ‘rubricum’ refers to the red ochre colour of the ultramafic rocks and soils where this species occurs, and also to the red colouration of the lamina margins and deep red colour of the stolon cortices
References and further reading
Heenan PB, Courtney SP. 2017. Geranium rubricum (Geraniaceae), a new species from ultramafic soils in the Red Hills, northern South Island, New Zealand. Phytotaxa 314(1): 89–95. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.314.1.7