Wild geranium

The word Geranium is derived from the Greek word for crane (geranos). This is in reference to the shape of fruit capsule, which has a long beak-like structure. This structure is also the genesis of one of the common names- Crane’s bill or Spotted Crane's bill.

Maculatum refers to the brown spots that are sometimes seen on the leaves.

Mature plants develop flowering stems that grow directly from a rhizome. Each flowering stem has a pair of opposite lower leaves and a smaller pair of upper leaves. Both sets of leaves have the same shape, with the lower leaves having 5 lobes and the upper leaves having 3 lobes. Each flowering stem produces 2-5 flowers consisting of 5 petals with rounded tips. Several lines are visible on the petals leading from the base to the tip. These are prominent veins that act as nectar guides for insects. Five green sepals are present on the underside of the petals. Each flower has 10 stamens with straw-colored anthers. The pale white pistil opens into 5 carpels.

In the photo below the yellow arrow indicates the 5 carpels of the pistil. The blue arrow points to one of the stamen and the orange arrow indicates the pistal.

Geranium maculatum has an interesting way to avoid self pollination. The 10 stamens are situated in a circle around the style. The outer half of the stamens develop within 1 or 2 days of the flower opening with the inner half delaying maturation until the second or third day. After the stamens have shed most of their pollen, the anthers are dropped from the filaments and the stigma matures. This sequence of development prevents the male (stamens) and female (stigma) being fertile simultaneously on an individual flower- thus avoiding self pollination and preserving gene diversity.

Geranium maculatum is a long-lived perennial growing from a rhizome. The rhizome may grow up to 6 inches long and holds the buds for the following year. The basal leaves emerge in late winter or early spring with flower buds appearing shortly thereafter.

Mature plants are about 1.5 foot tall with large, complex leaves with a width up to 5 inches. The attractive leaves have a palmate shape, unique in the spring woods. Each leaf has 5 deep lobes with sub lobes and teeth at its tips. The stem, leaves, petioles and buds are all hirsute. Leaves senesce in mid to late autumn, turning beautiful shades of red to yellow.

Plants employ many different methods to disperse their seeds and Geranium maculatum has one of the best. As the seeds inside each capsule become ripe, the dried covering curls backwards in a sudden act that catapults the seeds away from the mother plant. Each seed has a small appendage that assumes a curved shape when moist and straight when dry. This curving and straightening helps the seed creep along its way and eventually achieve its final destination in the soil where it can germinate in the spring.

Geranium maculatum is visited by various bumble bees, mason bees, cuckoo bees, long-horned bees, halictid bees, and andrenid bees. Syrphid flies also visit the flowers.

Butterflies and Skippers also visit the flowers. In addition, beetles and ants may be seen visiting the plants. (https://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/woodland/plants/wild_geranium.htm)

Geranium maculatum is an understory plant in submesic communities, especially on northern and eastern facing slopes. The term 'submesic' indicates soil that is drained from moisture a bit more quickly than a Mesic site (well-balanced supply of moisture).

Wild geranium is not commonly found on disturbed sites, typically requiring undisturbed areas of open forest. At least one study has shown that Wild geranium may 'return' to a site either from a seed bank or persistence of rhizomes once the disturbance is removed (such as cattle grazing).

Despite the catapult-like ejection of ripe seeds away from the mother plant, Wild geranium is slow to colonize. Forests with closed canopies create another challenge for stands of Wild geranium as roots tend to rise to the soil surface, exposing them to freezing. In open woodlands, the roots are typically 3 - 4 inches deep.

Wild geranium is has been shown to have strong association with White oak. Some other nearby Arkansas trees may include White ash, White chinkapin, Red Oak, and Shagbark Hickory.

Although its requirements are stringent in nature, it is easily cultivated in a garden setting and will even take full sun if there is adequate moisture.

In Arkansas, Geranium maculatum has a Conservation Value of 7- 'Typically matrix taxa in intact, stable habitats, with some limited ability to respond to destabilizing forces and repopulate areas from which they have been extirpated'.

Geranium maculatum is native to the Eastern US and west to Kansas. Natureserve ranks it 'Secure'.

SH: (Possibly Extirpated) North Dakota

S1 (Critically Imperiled): Florida, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Dakota

S2 (Imperiled): Kansas

S4 (Apparently Secure): Delaware, Mississippi, South Carolina

S5 (Secure): Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia

SNR: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Wisconsin

Geranium maculatum is an important plant in the ecosystem as it is a host plant for the leaf mining moth (Parectopa geraniella), the White-marked Tussock moth (Orgyia leucostigma), and probably others. It's seeds feed birds, chipmunks and other woodland species.