This photo is of the geraniums on my back deck. They are looking pretty good despite the heat of this Texas summer. I have tried to keep them watered enough so that they don’t burn up. One of my friends in Addison — who just moved from Chicago a few years ago — often complains that all her plants burn up which never happened to her in the Windy City. It is too hot for me to walk outside any more, so have been walking on the track at the Addison Athletic Club. If I could just get up at 6 a.m. to walk, it would be so much cooler. Need to retrain my night owl brain. I like geraniums because they are friendly flowers. I often see them in pots in front of people’s front doors or places of business. For years, my mother had two concrete planters with a Greek key design around the tops on either side of the walk by the front door. She often put geraniums in them. Let’s find out more about them.
According to Wikipedia, Geranium is a genus of 422 species of annual, biennial and perennial plants that are commonly known as geraniums or cranesbills. They are found throughout the temperate regions of the world and the mountains of the tropics, but mostly in the eastern part of the Mediterranean region.
The palmately cleft leaves are broadly circular in form. The flowers have five petals and are colored white, pink, purple or blue, often with distinctive veining. Geraniums will grow in any soil, as long as it is not waterlogged. Propagation is by semiripe cuttings in summer and by seed or by division in autumn or spring.
Geraniums are eaten by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including brown-tail, ghost moth and mouse moth. At least several species of Geranium are gynodioecious, a rare breeding system that is found in certain flowering plant species in which female and hermaphroditic plants coexist within a population. The species Geranium viscosissimum or sticky geranium is considered to be protocarnivorous i.e., traps and kills insects or other animals but lacks the ability to either directly digest or absorb nutrients from its prey like a carnivorous plant.
Description
The genus name is derived from the Greek “géranos” or “crane.” The English name “cranesbill” derives from the appearance of the fruit capsule of some of the species. Species in the genus Geranium have a distinctive mechanism for seed dispersal. This consists of a beak-like column which springs open when ripe and casts the seeds some distance. The fruit capsule consists of five cells, each containing one seed, joined to a column produced from the center of the old flower. The common name “cranesbill” comes from the shape of the unsprung column, which in some species is long and looks like the bill of a crane. However, many species in this genus do not have a long beak-like column.
Confusion with Pelargonium
Confusingly, "geranium" is also the common name of members of the genus Pelargonium, which are also in the family Geraniaceae and are widely grown as horticultural bedding plants. Linnaeus originally included all the species in one genus, Geranium, but they were later separated into two genera by Charles L’Héritier in 1789. Other former members of the genus are now classified in Erodium, including the plants known as filarees in North America.
The term "hardy geranium" is often applied to horticultural Geraniums to distinguish them from the Pelargoniums, which are not winter-hardy in temperate horticulture. However, not all Geranium species are winter-hardy.
The shape of the flowers offers one way of distinguishing between the two genera Geranium and Pelargonium. Geranium flowers have five very similar petals, and are thus radially symmetrical or actinomorphic, whereas Pelargonium and also Erodium flowers have two upper petals which are different from the three lower petals, so the flowers have a single plane of symmetry or zygomorphic.
Geranium cinereum or ashy cranesbill
Geranium cinereum, the ashy cranesbill, is a species of flowering plant in the family Geraniaceae, native to the Pyrenees. Growing to 20 inches tall and wide, it is a small, deciduous or semi-evergreen perennial usually grown for low ground cover, rockeries or underplanting larger subjects like roses. Leaves are deeply divided and grey-green, thereby the Latin specific epithet cinereum “ash-grey.” It flowers in summer, with striking black-eyed flowers with black stamens. The plant grows in full sunlight and is hardy down to 5 °F.
In cultivation in the UK the following cultivars in the Cinereum Group have been given a Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit:
- ’Ballerina.’
- Blue Sunrise = ‘Blogold.’
- ’Giuseppe.’
- Rothbury Gem = ‘Gerfos.’
Geranium clarkei or Clarke’s geranium
Geranium clarkei, called Clarke's geranium, is a species of flowering plant in the family Geraniaceae, native to India and cultivated for use in gardens.
It is an herbaceous perennial growing to 20 inches in height, with deeply cut seven-lobed leaves and white or purple flowers with pink veining in summer. It spreads by underground rhizomes and is used for ground cover or the front of a border.
Geranium dalmaticum or Dalmatian cranesbill
Geranium dalmaticum, commonly called Dalmatian cranesbill, is a species of hardy flowering herbaceous perennial plant in the genus Geranium of the family Geraniaceae. It is native to Dalmatia on the west coast of Croatia. Growing to only 3.9 inches tall by up to 20 inches broad, it is cultivated as a garden subject in temperate regions for its low mound of aromatic leaves and soft mauve colored flowers. The palmately lobed glossy green leaves are tinted red in autumn. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
Geranium endressii, Endres cranesbill or French crane's-bill
Geranium endressii, commonly called Endres cranesbill or French crane's-bill, is a species of hardy flowering herbaceous or semi-evergreen perennial plant in the genus Geranium, family Geraniaceae.
It is native to the Western Pyrenees in Spain, and is cultivated as a garden subject. Growing to 30 inches tall and broad, it has a mounding to sprawling habit, therefore is useful as ground cover in light shade. The leaves are deeply divided and the flowers are soft pink with red veins. It is very hardy, down to at least −4 °F and possibly less.
The cultivar ‘Castle Drogo’ has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
Geranium caespitosum, purple cluster geranium or pineywoods geranium
Geranium caespitosum — the purple cluster geranium or pineywoods geranium — is a perennial herb native to the western United States and northern Mexico. Its U.S. distribution includes Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.
It has a purple to red flower with 5 stamens, and the sepals are acuminate, tapering with a long point. It has palmately lobed leaves. The fruit is a schizocarp made up of 5 mericarps. It grows in damp soils, as in the understory of coniferous forests and in canyons.
The Goshutes, a tribe of Western Shoshone Native Americans, use the plant as an astringent and a decoction of the root to treat diarrhea. The Keres, one of the Pueblo people, use roots crushed into a paste to treat sores and the whole plant as turkey food.
Geranium macrorrhizum, birgoot geranium, Bulgarian geranium, rock crane’s-bill
Geranium macrorrhizum is a species of hardy flowering herbaceous perennial plant in the genus Geranium, family Geraniaceae. It is native to the southeast Alps and the Balkans. Its common names include bigroot geranium, Bulgarian geranium and rock crane's-bill.
It has five-lobed palmate leaves that are aromatic when crushed, with pale pink flowers in summer. It is cultivated as an ornamental plant in temperate regions, where it is used as a flowering ground cover, with named cultivars selected for flower colors from white through pink to magenta. The cultivars 'Ingwersen's Variety' (pale pink) and 'White-ness' have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
The plant is used for medical purposes in the traditional herbal medicine since it possesses high antimicrobial properties. Essential oil is prepared from it, so it is also used in aromatherapy. In Bulgaria an oil is extracted from this plant, the name of which in Bulgarian means “the healthy one.” In addition to essential oil, it contains flavonoids, sesquiterpenes, phenolic acids, pigments, vitamins and mineral salts. A major component of essential oil is the sesquiterpene ketone germacrone.
Geranium maculatum, wild geranium, spotted geranium or wood geranium
Geranium maculatum, the wild geranium, spotted geranium,or wood geranium, is a perennial plant native to woodland in eastern North America, from southern Manitoba and southwestern Quebec south to Alabama and Georgia and west to Oklahoma and South Dakota.
It is known as spotted cranesbill or wild cranesbill in Europe, but the wood cranesbill is another plant, the related G. sylvaticum, a European native called "woodland geranium" in North America. Colloquial names are alum root, alum bloom and old maid's nightcap.
It grows in dry to moist woods and is normally abundant when found. It is a perennial herbaceous plant growing to two feet tall, producing upright, usually unbranched stems and flowers in spring to early summer. The leaves are palmately lobed with five or seven deeply cut lobes, 4–5 inches broad, with a petiole up to 12 inches long arising from the rootstock. They are deeply parted into three or five divisions, each of which is again cleft and toothed.
The flowers are 1.0–1.6 inches in diameter, with five rose-purple, pale or violet-purple (rarely white) petals and ten stamens. In the Northern Hemisphere, they appear from April to June; precise dates depend on the latitude. They are grouped in loose corymbs or umbels of two to five at the top of the flower stems.
The fruit capsule, which springs open when ripe, consists of five cells each containing one seed joined to a long beak-like column 0.8–1.2 inches long —resembling a crane's bill — produced from the center of the old flower.
The rhizome is long and 2 to 4 inches thick with numerous branches. It is covered with scars, showing the remains of stems of previous years' growth. When dry it has a somewhat purplish color internally.
The plant is well-known in cultivation, and numerous cultivars have been developed. The cultivar 'Elizabeth Ann' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
The plant has been used in herbal medicine and is also grown as a garden plant. Wild geranium is considered an astringent, a substance that causes contraction of the tissues and stops bleeding. The Mesquakie Indians brewed a root tea for toothache and for painful nerves and mashed the roots for treating hemorrhoids.
Geranium psilostemon or Armenian cranesbill
Geranium psilostemon, commonly called Armenian cranesbill, is a species of hardy flowering herbaceous perennial plant in the genus Geranium, family Geraniaceae. It is native to Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation. Forming a large clump to 47 inches tall, it has glowing reddish purple-colored flowers with prominent dark centers and divided leaves tinted red in autumn. It is cultivated as a garden subject, and a number of different cultivars exist. G. psilostemon has the UK’s hardiest rating, surviving temperatures as low as −4 °F.
The Latin specific epithet psilostemon means "with smooth stamens."
Like other geranium species, G. psilostemon is useful as underplanting for larger shrubs such as roses. It has earned the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. The cultivar 'Ivan' has also received the award.
Geranium renardii
Geranium renardii is a species of hardy flowering herbaceous perennial plant in the genus Geranium, in the family Geraniaceae. It is native to the Caucasus region between Europe and Asia. Growing to 12 inches tall and broad, it has palmate leaves and pale pink flowers striped violet. This plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
The Latin specific epithet renardii honors the Russian naturalist Charles Claude Renard (1809-1886).
Geranium sylvaticum, wood cranesbill or woodland geranium
Geranium sylvaticum, the wood cranesbill or woodland geranium, is a species of hardy flowering plant in the family Geraniaceae, native to Europe and northern Turkey.
The Latin specific epithet sylvaticum means "of woodland," referring to the plant's native habitat, as does its common name "wood cranesbill."
The plant grows to 30 inches tall by 24 inches wide, it is a mound-forming herbaceous, gynodioecious perennial with deeply cut and toothed seven-lobed basal leaves. In summer, flowers are borne on stalks with ruffs of leaves. The flower color ranges from mauve to sky blue, depending on soil conditions. It has 10 stamens and glandular-hairy fruits.
G. sylvaticum is one of many Geranium species which are valued in gardens. It is suitable for cultivation in temperate climates in reliably moist, lightly shaded positions, as the name suggests. It is particularly useful for underplanting deciduous trees, roses, lilies and other summer-flowering subjects. Various cultivars have been selected, of which 'Album' and 'Mayflower' have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
It is the city flower of Sheffield in the United Kingdom.
The flowers yield a blue-gray dye that was used in ancient Europe to dye war cloaks, believing it would protect them in battle. For this reason, it was called Odin's Grace.
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