Flora of New Zealand Series

Annual herb; rosette small, tufted; stems ascending, hispid, (5)-20-30-(40) cm tall. Lvs green, (2)-4-8 × 1-3 cm, the lower petiolate, the upper sessile. Lamina broadly ovate to triangular, pinnatifid to 2-pinnatisect, cuneate at base, clothed in long setose hairs especially at segment tips and on midrib and margins beneath. Pedicels (3)-5-15 cm long, with appressed hairs. Sepals hispid, 7-13 × 5-7 mm. Petals red, 1-2.5 × 1-2.5 cm, with or without a dark blotch at base. Capsule clavate, widest in upper ?, ribbed, (10)-15-20 × (3)-4-7 mm, with pale, stiff, bristly spreading hairs. Stigmatic disc 1/2-3/4 width of capsule, conic; rays 4-6.

N.: Wellington; S.: Marlborough, Canterbury.

Europe, N. Africa, S.W. Asia 1904

Waste land and railway ballast, not common.