Classical name.
Perennial herbs and subshrubs with thick, sometimes stoloniferous, rhizomes. Leaves pinnate. Basal leaves usually divided unequally, with the terminal leaflet largest. Stem leaves small. Flowers solitary or in flat-topped clusters on simple or branched stems. Stamens numerous. Carpels numerous on an elongated receptacle. Fruit a cluster of achenes with long, persistent styles.
Mostly grown as border, edging and rock garden plants for their simple, colourful flowers. Species are known to hybridise readily in gardens, producing variants that are difficult to identify.
About 45 species from mostly cool or cold-temperate regions.
Seed and division.
Plants without stolons; leaves pinnate; stamens numerous; styles lengthening and becoming feathery in fruit.
Gajewski (1957).
Source: (2002). Rosaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 3. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 2. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.