Geranium reuteri

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Geranium reuteri
Geranium canariensis - Berlin Botanical Garden - IMG 8785.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. reuteri
Binomial name
Geranium reuteri
Aedo & Muñoz Garm. [1]
Synonyms [2]
  • Geranium canarienseReut., illegitimate

Geranium reuteri, the giant geranium, is a species of flowering plant in the family Geraniaceae, endemic to the Canary Islands. It was known for many years under the name Geranium canariense. In Spanish, it is called pata de gallo. [3]

Contents

Description

Geranium reuteri is a large perennial herbaceous plant with a short stem and deeply divided leaves. The plant forms brilliant carpets on the floor of laurel forests and wax myrtle-tree heath scrub.

The leaves grow in a rosette from a woody base or short stem, and are up to 8 cm (3.1 in) wide with a long (stalk). The flowers are 2–3 cm (0.8–1.2 in) across. Each flower has five sepals and five pink petals with whitish backs. [4] [3] Appearing in late March to mid-May, the flowers are borne on a branched inflorescence and are deeply divided into lobes.

Taxonomy

The species was first described in 1858 by George François Reuter as Geranium canariense. It was known by this name until 1997. However, Reuter's name is illegitimate, because Jean Poiret had already used the name Geranium canariense in 1812 for a different species. (Poiret's Geranium canariense, transferred from Pelargonium canarienseWilld., is now regarded as a synonym for Pelargonium candicans .) [5] Noticing that Reuter's name was illegitimate, in 1997, Carlos Aedo and Félix Muñoz Garmendia published the replacement name Geranium reuteri. [6] [2]

Distribution and habitat

Geranium reuteri is native to the Canary Islands. In the Canary Islands it is found in Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera, El Hierro and Gran Canaria. It is absent from the eastern islands, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. [1] [4] [3] It occurs in relatively moist woodland habitats, including laurel woods, cloud forest zones and pine woods. [4]

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geraniaceae</span> Family of plants

Geraniaceae is a family of flowering plants placed in the order Geraniales. The family name is derived from the genus Geranium. The family includes both the genus Geranium and the garden plants called geraniums, which modern botany classifies as genus Pelargonium, along with other related genera.

<i>Pelargonium</i> Genus of plants

Pelargonium is a genus of flowering plants that includes about 280 species of perennials, succulents, and shrubs, commonly called geraniums, pelargoniums, or storksbills. Geranium is also the botanical name and common name of a separate genus of related plants, also known as cranesbills. Both genera belong to the family Geraniaceae. Carl Linnaeus originally included all the species in one genus, Geranium, and they were later separated into two genera by Charles Louis L'Héritier de Brutelle in 1789.

<i>Pelargonium graveolens</i> Species of plant

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<i>Erodium</i> Genus of flowering plants

Erodium is a genus of flowering plants in the botanical family Geraniaceae. The genus includes about 60 species, native to North Africa, Indomalaya, the Middle East, and Australia. They are perennials, annuals, or subshrubs, with five-petalled flowers in shades of white, pink, and purple, that strongly resemble the better-known Geranium (cranesbill). Cultivated plants are known as filarees or heron's bill in North America, whereas in the British Isles they are usually called storksbills.

<i>Hypericum canariense</i> Species of flowering plant in the St Johns wort family Hypericaceae

Hypericum canariense is a species of flowering plant in the family Hypericaceae known by the common name Canary Islands St. John's wort. It is the sole member of Hypericumsect. Webbia.

<i>Echium pininana</i> Species of flowering plant

Echium pininana, commonly known as the tree echium, pine echium, giant viper's-bugloss, or tower of jewels, is a species of flowering plant in the borage family Boraginaceae. It is endemic to the Canary Islands, where it is restricted to the island of La Palma. Echium pininana is an endangered species, and is listed in Appendix I to, and is therefore protected under, the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats. The specific epithet pininana is Latin for "small pine", though E. pininana is neither closely related to the pine, nor does it resemble that plant.

<i>Pelargonium peltatum</i> Scrambling perennial plant in the family Geraniaceae from southern and eastern South Africa

Pelargonium peltatum is a scrambling perennial plant with five shallow or deeply lobed, circular- to heart-shaped, somewhat fleshy leaves, sometimes with a differently coloured semicircular band, that has been assigned to the cranesbill family. It carries umbel-like inflorescences with 2–10, white to mauve, bilateral symmetrical flowers, each with a "spur" that is merged with the flower stalk. It is known by several common names including ivy-leaved pelargonium and cascading geranium. It is native to southern and eastern South Africa. In its home range, it flowers year round but most vigorously from August to October.

<i>Canarina canariensis</i> Species of flowering plant in the bellflower family Campanulaceae

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<i>Euphorbia aphylla</i> Species of flowering plant

Euphorbia aphylla is a species of flowering plant in the family Euphorbiaceae. It is native to the Canary Islands. It was first described in 1809.

<i>Erysimum scoparium</i> Species of flowering plant

Erysimum scoparium is a species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae, native to the Canary Islands. It is a shrubby species of wallflower with purplish flowers found at high altitudes.

<i>Euphorbia lamarckii</i> Species of flowering plant

Euphorbia lamarckii is a species of flowering plant in the family Euphorbiaceae, native to the western Canary Islands. It resembles Euphorbia regis-jubae, with which it has been confused. Both have been called Euphorbia obtusifolia.

<i>Helianthemum canariense</i> Species of flowering plant

Helianthemum canariense is a species of flowering plant in the family Cistaceae, native to Western Sahara, Morocco and the Canary Islands.

The scientific name Euphorbia obtusifolia has been used for at least three species of Euphorbia:

<i>Euphorbia regis-jubae</i> Species of flowering plant

Euphorbia regis-jubae is a species of flowering plant in the family Euphorbiaceae, native to the eastern Canary Islands, western Morocco, north-western Western Sahara. In Spanish, it is known as tabaiba morisca. It has often been confused with Euphorbia lamarckii.

<i>Aeonium aureum</i> Species of succulent

Aeonium aureum is a species of flowering plant in the family Crassulaceae, native to the Canary Islands. It has very short stems, usually with several leaf rosettes. The grey-green leaves are tightly packed and fleshy. The bright yellow flowers are produced on leafy stems, and are up to 25 mm (1 in) across.

<i>Habenaria tridactylites</i> Species of flowering plant

Habenaria tridactylites is a species of flowering plant in the family Orchidaceae, native to the Canary Islands. It was first described by John Lindley in 1835.

<i>Aizoon canariense</i> Species of succulent

Aizoon canariense is a species of small leafy annual plant in the family Aizoaceae.

<i>Pelargonium inodorum</i> Species of plant

Pelargonium inodorum, commonly known as wild pelargonium, is a flowering plant in the family Geraniaceae. It is grows in New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania, Victoria, New Zealand. It has scented leaves and mostly pink flowers.

References

  1. 1 2 "Geranium reuteri' Aedo & Muñoz Garm.", Plants of the World Online , Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew , retrieved 2018-01-29
  2. 1 2 Aedo, Carlos & Garmendia, Félix Muñoz (1997), "Twelve New Names in Geranium L. (Geraniaceae)", Kew Bulletin, 52 (3): 725–727, doi:10.2307/4110304, JSTOR   4110304
  3. 1 2 3 González, Manuel Luis Gil (2018), "Geranium reuteri Aedo & Muñoz Garm.", Flora Vascular de Canarias, retrieved 2018-01-29
  4. 1 2 3 Bramwell, David & Bramwell, Zoë (2001), Wild Flowers of the Canary Islands (2nd ed.), Madrid: Editorial Rueda, p. 203, ISBN   84-7207-129-4 (as G. canariense)
  5. "Plant Name Details for Geranium canariense (Willd.) Poir.", The International Plant Names Index , retrieved 2018-01-29
  6. "Plant Name Details for Geranium reuteri Aedo & Muñoz Garm.", The International Plant Names Index , retrieved 2018-01-29