CAROLINA CRANESBILL
File Size: 63 KB
 
Geranium carolinianum  L.
Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, Chase County, Kansas
Annual
Height: 4-28 inches
Family: Geraniaceae - Geranium Family
Flowering Period:   May, June
Also Called: Carolina geranium.
Stems: Erect, branched near base and above, sparsely hairy; branches up to 24 inches long.
Leaves: Alternate, stalked, pale or dull green, circular in outline, 1 to 2.5 inches wide, deeply palmately-divided into 5-9 lobes; lobes cleft or parted; lobe tips blunt.
Inflorescences: Flowers usually in pairs, pairs grouped into loose clusters in upper leaf axils.
Flowers: Small, 1/3 to 1/2 inch across; sepals 5, overlapping, narrowly to broadly ovate, 3-5-nerved, hairy, bristle-tipped; petals 5, about equaling sepals, overlapping, white or pink, tips rounded to blunt; stamens 10.
Fruits: Capsules, slender, 1 to 2 inches long, hairy, with 5 1-seeded cavities at base, prominent column topped by 5 short beaks; seeds oblong, dark brown.
Habitat: Dry waste areas, fields, prairies, pastures, lawns, and roadsides; various soil types.
Distribution: East 2/3 of Kansas.
Origin: Native to North America.
Comments: Carolina cranesbill is a somewhat weedy species that reproduces via seeds.

Carolina cranesbill flower
66 KB
Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, Chase County, Kansas
Carolina cranesbill leaves
139 KB
Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, Chase County, Kansas