Scientific Family
Geraniaceae
Other common names
cranesbill
white geranium
white cranesbill
Plant type
Forbs and Subshrubs
Origin
Native
Lifecycle
Perennial
Height
Sprawling to 3 feet
Riparian
No
Sprawling perennial with white to pale pink 5-petaled flowers to 1 inch wide, palmately lobed leaves up to 6 inches wide and a seed capsule shaped like a cranesbill.
Perennial with forked stems, swollen nodes, erect, not highly branched; leaves palmately lobed, sometimes sparsely hairy, divisions incised, toothed to lobed; flowers whitish, may be pale pink, not deep purple as found in G. caespitosum.
Habitat
Moist soil of ponderosa pine and mixed conifer forests.
Plant Community
Montane Conifer Forest
Low elevation
6500
High elevation
11500
Flower Characteristics
Flowers are up to 1 inch wide, white to pale pink, 5-petaled with purplish veins at the ends of branched stems. Stamens 10, 5 of them longer than the others.
Flower color
White to pale pink
Flower shape
Regular
Tubular
No
First bloom month
April
Last bloom month
October
Flower clusters
None
Leaf and Stem Characteristics
Leaves are 1-1/2 to 6 inches wide, palmately lobed into 5 to 7 main segments on long stalks, most near the base of the plant. Leaf divisions are incised, toothed to lobed.
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf color
Dark green
Leaf shape
Palmate
Leaf margin
Lobed
Leaves clasp
No
Leaf hairs
Stems
Spines
No
Fruit and Seed Characteristics
"Cranesbill" refers to its long, beak-like seed capsule that becomes recoiled when mature.
Fruit type
Capsule
Fruit color
Brown
1 to 2 coarsely pitted seeds per capsule.