Geranium bicknellii

Native

Open woods, fields. Full to partial sun.

May to September

Pink

6″ to 20″

This is a 6″ to 20″ tall, erect, somewhat bushy, annual or biennial forb rises from a taproot. It is usually about 20″ tall at maturity.

The stems are ascending, much forked, and covered with spreading hairs. Some of the upper branches have glandular hairs between the nodes.

The leaves are opposite, ¾″ to 2½″ wide, pentagon-shaped, and palmately divided into 5 deep lobes, cut almost to the base. The lobes are narrowed at their bases and are themselves deeply cut into narrow lobes along most of their length. None of the lobes are on leaflet stalks.

The inflorescence is a cluster of 2 flowers at the end of a long stalk. The individual flowers are on two shorter individual flower stalks that are more than twice the length of the sepals.

The flowers are ⅓″ to ½″ wide with 5 petals and 5 sepals. The sepals have stiff bristles at their tips that are almost ⅛″ long. The petals are pink and notched at the tip.

The fruit is a ¾″ to 1″ long, hairy capsule in the shape of a crane’s bill, giving this plant its common name.

Carolina geranium (Geranium carolinianum) leaves are divided into usually 5 to 9 deeply-cut lobes. The leaf margins have widely spaced, deeply-cut teeth, that may amount to secondary lobes. The inflorescence is tight a cluster of many flowers. The flowers are on short flower stalks that are less than half as long as the sepals.

Meadow geranium (Geranium pratense) has no central stem, rather two basal leaves and a flowering stem with a single pair of opposite leaves. The leaf stalks and flower stalks are covered with sticky, glandular hairs. The inflorescence is a small cluster at the end of a long stalk. The flowers are large, 1″ to 1½″ wide. The flower petals are bright blue-violet and rounded, not notched, at the tips. It is an introduced species. It has been recorded only in St. Louis County.

Robert’s geranium (Geranium robertianum) leaves are divided into usually 3 to 5 leaflets. The leaflets are cut all the way to the base, with at least the terminal leaflet on an evident leaflet stalk. It has been recorded only in St. Louis County.

Siberian cranesbill (Geranium sibiricum) flowers occur singly or in pairs. It has been recorded only in Houston and Goodhue Counties.

Wild geranium (Geranium maculatum) has no central stem, rather two basal leaves and a flowering stem with a single pair of opposite leaves. The inflorescence is a flat or round topped cluster of 1 to 6 flowers at the end of a long stalk. The flowers are large, 1″ to 1½″ wide. The flower petals are rose-purple, pale purple, violet-purple or, rarely, white, with darker fine lines radiating from the center of the flower.