Monday, April 12, 2010

Cranesbill

Cranesbill (Geranium carolinianum) is also known as Wild Geranium. This species comes from the Geranium (Geraniaceae) which contains some 422 species of plants. An annual herb, Cranesbill forms low mounds of greenery in the early spring and can be one of the first plants to return in the Spring. Although many people consider this plant to be a pesky weed, we tend to leave it in small sweeps around the garden especially in the early Spring when not much else is blooming.

The leaves of this species are palmate and divide into five segments which further divide into pointed lobes. Cranesbill blooms with five-petaled flowers that are pale pink to pale purple in color. The flower buds resemble the heads of birds before the flower begins to bloom.

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