Family: Geraniaceae (geranium and pelargonium family)

Life > eukaryotes > Archaeoplastida > Chloroplastida > Charophyta > Streptophytina > Plantae (land plants) > Tracheophyta (vascular plants) > Euphyllophyta > Lignophyta (woody plants) > Spermatophyta (seed plants) > Angiospermae (flowering plants) > Eudicotyledons > Core Eudicots > Rosids > Order: Geraniales

Seven genera and 805 species, native to temperate and warm temperate regions. Five genera and 312 species are native to southern Africa, seven species are naturalised, and 17 species are cultivated in the region.

Genera native to southern Africa

Information mainly from Dreyer and Makwarela (2000).

Erodium About 60 species, native mainly to the Mediterranean and western Asia, but also in Africa where there are three species native to southern Africa, three species that are naturalised, and an additional three species that are cultivated in the region.
Geranium About 300 species, native to temperate regions and the montane tropics, with 29 species native to southern Africa, four that are naturalised, and an additional 14 that are cultivated in the region.
Monsonia About 40 species (Africa, Madagascar, southwestern Asia), of which 21 are native to southern Africa.
Pelargonium About 280 species (Africa, Asia, St Helena, Tristan da Cunha, Madagascar, Australia and New Zealand), of which 245 are native to southern Africa, mainly in the Western Cape.
Sarcocaulon Fourteen species, all of which are native to southern Africa, mainly in Namibia and the Northern Cape.

Publications

• Dreyer, L.L. and Makwarela, A.M. 2000. Geraniaceae. In: Seed Plants of Southern Africa (ed. O.A. Leistner). Strelitzia 10: 312-314. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.

• Glen, H.F. 2002. Cultivated Plants of Southern Africa. Jacana, Johannesburg.