Carolina Geranium: Geranium carolinianum
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Weed Description: Most often a
biennial, forming a basal rosette initially with subsequent stem elongation and branching
as the plant matures. May also occur as a winter or summer annual. Found
throughout the United States. Roots: Fibrous with shallow taproot. |
| Stems: Erect,
freely branching near base to 28 inches tall. Stems are usually pink to red in color
and densely hairy. Leaves: Alternate near base, opposite above, and hairy on both surfaces. Leaves (3/4 to 2 1/2 inches wide) are rounded in appearance, and deeply (palmately) divided into 5-9 segments, with each segment also lobed or toothed. |
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Fruit: Less than 3 mm long with
an elongated beak that gives this structure the appearance of a crane's bill, which is
also another common name of this weed. Seedling: Cotyledons are hairy, broad (6 mm wide), kidney-shaped, green above and pink below. Young leaves are hairy on both surfaces, alternate, and have leaf veins arising from a common point (palmately veined). Petioles of young plants are pink and covered with hairs that point downward. Margins of leaves are deeply lobed. |
| Flowers: Two or more in clusters at
tips of stems and branches. Petals are whitish-pink to pale purple in color, 4-6 mm
long. Identifying Characteristics: Divided leaves and distinctive 'crane's bill' fruit. Also, the whitish-pink to purple flower color of Carolina geranium helps to distinguish it from similar geranium species (dovefoot and smallflower geraniums). |
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