Description: This native perennial plant is 1-2½' tall, consisting of a loose cluster of basal leaves and flowering stems that develop directly from the creeping rootstock. On the lower portion of each flowering stem, there is a pair of opposite leaves. Both the basal leaves and the lower opposite leaves of the flowering stems have a similar appearance. They are up to 5" long and across, and palmately cleft with 5 deep lobes. Each of these lobes is wedge-shaped at the base. The leaf margins have a few secondary lobes and coarse teeth. Each leaf has long petioles with coarse white hairs, while its upper surface has fine white hairs. The flowering stems are covered with coarse white hairs and more or less erect. The upper pairs of leaves on the flowering stems are like the lower leaves, except they are smaller in size and usually have only 3 primary lobes.
The stems terminate in a corymb or floppy
umbel of 1-5 flowers. Each flower is about 1–1½" across, consisting
of 5 rounded petals, 5 green sepals, 10 stamens with pale yellow anthers, and a
single pistil with 5 carpels. The petals are pale purplish pink and have fine
lines running across their surface that function as nectar guides. Both the
flowering stalk (peduncle) and pedicels have non-glandular hairs. The blooming
period occurs during the late spring to early summer and lasts about a month.
The pistil of the flower elongates into a beak-like fruit about
1–1½" long. As it matures, the 5 slender carpels of this fruit curl
upward and backward to fling the seeds from the mother plant. Each of these
small seeds has a reticulated surface. The root system consists of a dark stout
rootstock that produces rhizomes. It is high in tannins. This plant often forms
colonies.
Cultivation: The
preference is light shade to partial sunlight, moist to slightly dry
conditions, and rich loamy soil with abundant organic matter. This plant also
tolerates full sunlight. It is one of the easier woodland species to
grow.
Range & Habitat: Wild Geranium is a common plant
of woodlands that occurs in all counties of Illinois. Habitats include both
floodplain and upland woodlands, savannas, meadows in woodlands, semi-shaded
seeps, and glades. Sometimes it invades hill prairies from adjacent wooded
areas. It is a typical species of mesic deciduous woodlands.
Faunal Associations: The nectar and pollen of the
flowers attract bumblebees, Mason bees, Halictid bees, Andrenid bees, Nomadine
Cuckoo bees, Miner bees, and others. The flowers also attract Syrphid flies,
March flies (Empidae), small butterflies, and skippers. The caterpillars of
some moth species feed on either the foliage or flower buds, including
Lacinipolia lorea (Bridled Arches), Heliothis virescens (Geranium
Budworm Moth, Tobacco Budworm Moth), and Hemerocampa leucostigma
(White-Marked Tussock Moth). Chipmunks eat the seeds, while deer occasionally
eat the foliage.
Photographic
Location: A flower garden at Crystal Lake Park in Urbana,
Illinois.
Comments: The Wild
Geranium is the showiest of the native geraniums with flowers at least 1"
across. All of the others are far less showy because they have smaller flowers.
There is a European species, Geranium pratense (Meadow Geranium), with
equally large flowers, but it has not been observed in the wild in Illinois.
This species has a similar appearance to the Wild Geranium, except that the
hairs on the flowering stalks and pedicels are sticky glandular, and the leaves
are more divided and finely cut. Another European species, Geranium
sanguineum (Long-Stalked Geranium), is rarely observed in Illinois. It has
flowers with notched petals and the foliage is divided into more narrow
lobes.