Geranium

Wild Geranium
Geranium maculatum

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Wild Geranium, plentiful in our area, often provides the earliest color relief from all those early-spring white flowers. Of our many Geranium species, this is the showiest. The flowers of 5 rosy pink petals are 1.5-2" wide, far larger than any other "cranesbill" of this region. The plant grows about 1 foot high, and is topped with small clusters of buds and blossoms. The leaves are usually 3-4" long, and about as wide, deeply cleft into 5-7 lobes. The foliage can appear very early in the season, and can easily be confused with Larkspur which appears about the same time. Wild Geranium prefers open hardwoods at mid-elevations but can do quite well lower down. They'll be blooming around Asheville, especially along the Parkway, from late April into May.

A note on the nomenclature (naming conventions) on this site: Scientific names and classifications are constantly being argued and changed, and it drives me nuts. Although I use many different sources for knowledge, for naming consistency I use the "Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas" by Radford, Ahles and Bell, 1968 edition. This book is a well-established authority for the plants of our region and I've been using it for years. If for some reason I must use a different source for a particular plant, I will make note of it within the descriptive text. Don't like it? Tough!

fdudley@weaversites.com

Fiona Dudley
Weaversites
986 Reems Creek Road
Weaverville NC 28787

828-231-1501