Geranium lucidum

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Geranium lucidum
Geranium lucidum Sturm6.jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Geraniales
Family: Geraniaceae
Genus: Geranium
Species:
G. lucidum
Binomial name
Geranium lucidum
L.
Geranium lucidum - MHNT Geranium lucidum MHNT.BOT.2018.6.jpg
Geranium lucidum - MHNT

Geranium lucidum, commonly known as shining cranesbill [1] or (in North America) shining geranium or shiny geranium, is a herbaceous annual plant of the genus Geranium . It is native to Europe, western Asia and North Africa. It has been introduced to North America as a garden plant and in places, particularly the Pacific Northwest, has become naturalised and is viewed as an invasive species and noxious weed.

Contents

Description

The shining cranesbill is an annual plant with stems up to 35 cm (14 in) long, brittle, fleshy, hairless and often red. Leaves round or kidney-shaped and glossy, palmately-lobed or divided bluntly to about two-thirds of their depth, sometimes with short hairs on the upper surface. Flowers with parts in fives, with sharply keeled sepals and bright pink, rounded petals, some 10 mm (0.4 in) in diameter, the 8 to 10 mm (0.3 to 0.4 in) petals having long bases and flat blades. These are born in pairs from May to August. The fruits are beaked capsules, ridged and slightly hairy, at least on the edges, and splitting open into five parts. The seeds are smooth. The whole plant has a tendency to turn red. [2] [3] [4]

Distribution

Shining cranesbill on a wall in Wales Geranium lucidum, Wales.jpg
Shining cranesbill on a wall in Wales

The shining cranesbill is native to Europe, Asia as far east as the Himalayas and northern Africa. [5] This plant is common in Great Britain and Ireland, [6] especially in the southwest and west, but uncommon in Scotland. It is found at altitudes of up to 610 m (2,000 ft). [4] It has been grown as a garden plant in parts of the United States and has become naturalised in the Pacific Northwest. [5]

Habitat

The shining cranesbill is common on limestone rocks and walls, and in churchyards on roadside verges, banks, gardens and bare ground; it thrives on chalky or sandy soil. [4] It is also common on acid soils and shady banks. [2] The plant has good dispersal abilities because the seed is explosively thrown out of the capsule, allowing the plant to move up slopes and exploit crevices in tree trunks and recesses in walls that are higher than the parent plant. [7]

Invasive species

In parts of the United States including California, Washington state and the Willamette Valley in Oregon, shining cranesbill has become naturalised. It was first detected in the US in 1971 and has since been declared a noxious weed in Washington and Oregon. [8] A 2013 survey by USDA reported that it was present in five counties in Washington, thirteen in Oregon and two in California. It was detected in Canada in 1982, on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, and has been introduced into Australia and New Zealand. [8]

When naturalised in the Pacific Northwest, it is often seen in association with the related European plant, herb Robert (Geranium robertianum), also classified as a noxious weed. In these areas, shining cranesbill seems to thrive in woodlands and forest glades, where it tends to overwhelm the native plants. State legislation has been enacted making it "prohibited to transport, buy, sell, offer for sale, or to distribute plants or plant parts, seeds in packets, blends or "wildflower mixes" of this species, into or within the state of Washington". [7]

Related Research Articles

<i>Geranium</i> Genus of flowering plants in the family Geraniaceae

Geranium is a genus of 422 species of annual, biennial, and perennial plants that are commonly known as geraniums or cranesbills. They are found throughout the temperate regions of the world and the mountains of the tropics, but mostly in the eastern part of the Mediterranean region.

<i>Echium plantagineum</i> Species of plant

Echium plantagineum, commonly known as purple viper's-bugloss or Paterson's curse, is a species of Echium native to western and southern Europe, northern Africa, and southwestern Asia. It has also been introduced to Australia, South Africa and United States, where it is an invasive weed. Due to a high concentration of pyrrolizidine alkaloids, it is poisonous to grazing livestock, especially those with simple digestive systems, like horses.

<i>Rumex crispus</i>

Rumex crispus, the curly dock, curled dock or yellow dock, is a perennial flowering plant in the family Polygonaceae, native to Europe and Western Asia.

<i>Geranium robertianum</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Geraniaceae

Geranium robertianum, commonly known as herb-Robert, red robin, death come quickly, storksbill, fox geranium, stinking Bob, squinter-pip (Shropshire), crow's foot, or Roberts geranium, is a common species of cranesbill native to Europe and parts of Asia, North America, and North Africa.

<i>Hesperis matronalis</i> Species of plant

Hesperis matronalis is an herbaceous plant species in the family Brassicaceae. It has numerous common names, including dame's rocket, damask-violet, dame's-violet, dames-wort, dame's gilliflower, night-scented gilliflower, queen's gilliflower, rogue's gilliflower, summer lilac, sweet rocket, mother-of-the-evening, and winter gilliflower.

<i>Asphodelus fistulosus</i> Species of flowering plant

Asphodelus fistulosus is a species of plant known as hollow-stemmed asphodel, onionweed, onion-leafed asphodel, and pink asphodel. It is native to the Mediterranean region. It is an invasive exotic weed in the United States, with significant infestations in California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. It is listed as a Federal Noxious Weed by the United States Department of Agriculture. It is also a common weed in parts of Australia, New Zealand, and Mexico, and it thrives in any area with a Mediterranean climate.

<i>Euphorbia myrsinites</i> Species of flowering plant in the spurge family Euphorbiaceae

Euphorbia myrsinites, the myrtle spurge, blue spurge, or broad-leaved glaucous-spurge, is a succulent species in the spurge family Euphorbiaceae.

<i>Brachypodium sylvaticum</i> Species of grass

Brachypodium sylvaticum, commonly known as false-brome, slender false brome or wood false brome, is a perennial grass native to Europe, Asia and Africa. It has a broad native range stretching from North Africa to Eurasia.

<i>Geranium sanguineum</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Geraniaceae

Geranium sanguineum, common names bloody crane's-bill or bloody geranium, is a species of hardy flowering herbaceous perennial plant in the cranesbill family Geraniaceae. It is also the county flower of Northumberland.

<i>Geranium maculatum</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Geraniaceae

Geranium maculatum, the wild geranium, spotted geranium, or wood geranium, is a perennial plant native to woodland in eastern North America, from southern Manitoba and southwestern Quebec south to Alabama and Georgia and west to Oklahoma and South Dakota.

<i>Tellima</i> Genus of flowering plants in the family Saxifragaceae

Tellima grandiflora, the bigflower tellima or fringecups, is a herbaceous perennial plant of the family Saxifragaceae. It is the only species in the genus Tellima.

<i>Euphorbia lathyris</i> Flowering plant in the family Euphorbiaceae

Euphorbia lathyris, the caper spurge or paper spurge, is a species of spurge native to southern Europe, northwest Africa, and eastward through southwest Asia to western China.

<i>Ligustrum lucidum</i> Species of tree

Ligustrum lucidum, the broad-leaf privet, Chinese privetglossy privet, tree privet or wax-leaf privet, is a species of flowering plant in the olive family Oleaceae, native to the southern half of China and naturalized in many places: Spain, Italy, Algeria, Canary Islands, New Zealand, Lesotho, South Africa, Japan, Korea, Australia, Norfolk Island, Chiapas, Central America, Argentina, and the southern United States. The name "Chinese privet" is also used for Ligustrum sinense.

<i>Tolmiea menziesii</i>

The plant Tolmiea menziesii is a member of the genus Tolmiea. It is known by the common names youth on age, pick-a-back-plant, piggyback plant, and thousand mothers. It is a perennial plant native to the West Coast of North America, occurring in northern California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia and southern Alaska. It occurs as a naturalised plant or garden escape in Scotland, parts of Wales, Northern Ireland and northern and western parts of England.

<i>Rubus armeniacus</i> Species of fruit and plant

Rubus armeniacus, the Himalayan blackberry or Armenian blackberry, is a species of Rubus in the blackberry group Rubus subgenus Rubus series Discolores Focke. It is native to Armenia and Northern Iran, and widely naturalised elsewhere. Both its scientific name and origin have been the subject of much confusion, with much of the literature referring to it as either Rubus procerus or Rubus discolor, and often mistakenly citing its origin as western European. Flora of North America, published in 2014, considers the taxonomy unsettled, and tentatively uses the older name Rubus bifrons.

<i>Ligustrum vulgare</i>

Ligustrum vulgare is a species of Ligustrum native to central and southern Europe, north Africa and southwestern Asia, from Ireland and southwestern Sweden south to Morocco, and east to Poland and northwestern Iran.

<i>Pilosella caespitosa</i> Species of flowering plant in the daisy family Asteraceae

Pilosella caespitosa is like several other Pilosella species and has a similar appearance to many of the hawkweeds.

<i>Erica lusitanica</i> Species of flowering plant

Erica lusitanica is a species of flowering plant in the family Ericaceae, known by the common names Portuguese heath and Spanish heath. It is native to Portugal, Spain and southwestern France. It is named for Lusitania, a historical region encompassing most of modern Portugal and parts of western Spain.

<i>Galenia pubescens</i> Species of succulent

Galenia pubescens is a low-growing perennial herb in the family Aizoaceae. It is native to southern Africa and naturalised elsewhere.

<i>Centromadia pungens</i> Species of flowering plant

Centromadia pungens, the common spikeweed or common tarweed, is a species of North American plants in the tarweed tribe within the sunflower family. It is native to northern Baja California and the western United States. The plant is considered a noxious weed in parts of the Pacific Northwest.

References

  1. Hackney, P. (Ed) 1992. Stewart and Corry's Flora of the North-east of Ireland. Institute of Irish Studies, The Queen's University of Belfast ISBN   0-85389-446-9
  2. 1 2 Martin, W. Keble 1965. The Concise British Flora in Colour Ebury Press and Michael Joseph
  3. Parnell, J. and Curtis. 2012. Webb's An Irish Flora. Cork University Press. ISBN   978-1-85918-478-3
  4. 1 2 3 Harrap, Simon (2014). Harrap's Wild Flowers. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 104. ISBN   978-1-4081-8987-0.
  5. 1 2 "Geranium lucidum – L." Plants for a Future. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
  6. Clapham, A.R.; Tutin, T.G.; Warburg, E.F. 1968. Excursion Flora of the British Isles (Second Edition) Cambridge University Press. ISBN   0-521-04656-4
  7. 1 2 "Shiny geranium". Noxious Weeds. King County, Washington. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
  8. 1 2 Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (11 June 2013). "Weed Risk Assessment for Geranium lucidum L. (Geraniaceae) – Shining cranesbill". USDA.Missing or empty |url= (help)