Geranium
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 coloured 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, 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.[1][2][3] The species Geranium viscosissimum (sticky geranium) is considered to be protocarnivorous.
The genus name is derived from the Greek γέρανος (géranos) or γερανός (geranós) 'crane'. The English name 'cranesbill' derives from the resemblance of the fruit capsule of some of the species to a crane's head and bill. The ovary portion forms the head and the prolonged stigma creates the appearance of a beak.[4]
The flowers are typically five-petaled and white to purple. The leaves are palmate divided into narrow, pointed segments.[4]
The fruit capsule consists of five cells joined to a column produced from the centre of the flower. The cells form lobes which eventually separate, each containing one seed.[4] When the fruit is ripe, the beak-like stigma springs open and casts the seeds some distance, dispersing the seeds.
