Flora of New Zealand Series

Perennial herb, with slender or sometimes fairly stout caulorrhiza. Hairs soft, retrorse or antrorse, generally appressed and often short, sometimes spreading. Stems slender, prostrate or spreading, with ± retrorse hairs; branches usually many. Basal lvs rarely persistent through growing season; petioles to 12-(19) cm long; hairs retrorse and dense. Lamina usually to 3-(4) cm diam., reniform to orbicular or broadly ovate, lobed 3/4-⅞ way to midrib; lobes (3)-5, narrowly to broadly obovate-cuneate, obovate-elliptic, obovate-oblong, or oblong, with appressed hairs on both sides or glabrous above, rounded to acute or mucronate at apex; larger lobes usually with 2 ± oblong or elliptic secondary lobes. Cauline lvs smaller, with fewer lobes. Peduncles (with pedicels) usually 1-3-(4) cm long, filiform, with dense, retrorse hairs; bracteoles subulate or linear-subulate; fls 1-(2). Sepals 3-5-(6) × 1-2.5 mm, lanceolate to elliptic, broadly elliptic or ± ovate, usually with green margin, sometimes completely purple; hairs ± spreading, often very short and antrorse towards apex, sometimes few. Petals 4-5 × 2-2.5 mm, broadly obovate, pink. Mericarps 2-3 mm long, with ± dense hairs; beak (6)-7-10 mm long. Seed 1.5-1.9 mm long, oblong, distinctly alveolate.

N.: Auckland southwards, widespread and common; S.: Nelson, Marlborough, and collected once between Akatore and Glenledi (S. Otago).

Also indigenous to temperate Australia and New Guinea.

Open habitats, grasslands, rough pastures, roadsides, river banks, tracks, scrub, lowland to montane.

FL Oct-Mar.

Plants treated here as G. potentilloides were included by Allan (1961) under the much more variable G. microphyllum (see notes under that sp.).