3. Geranium dissectum L. (cutleaf crane’s bill)

Pl. 422 j–m; Map 1885

Plants annual, usually taprooted. Aerial stems 7–60 cm long, spreading to loosely ascending, moderately pubescent with short to long (0.2–0.8 mm), spreading to downward-pointing, nonglandular hairs. Leaves basal and opposite, the basal ones long-petiolate, those of the stems with progressively shorter petioles. Leaf blades 1.5–6.0 cm long, wider than long to about as long as wide, kidney-shaped to nearly circular in outline, shallowly to mostly deeply 3–7-lobed, the lobes more or less obovate, shallowly to mostly deeply and sharply 3–9-lobed, sometimes with additional lobes and/or teeth along the margin, the surfaces sparsely to densely pubescent with spreading to loosely appressed nonglandular hairs. Inflorescences appearing axillary and often also terminal, short- to long-stalked, consisting of pairs of flowers, these sometimes condensed into small clusters. Individual flower stalks 5–13 mm long, 1–2 times as long as the sepals, pubescent with spreading, glandular and nonglandular hairs. Sepals 3–5 mm long, becoming enlarged to 8 mm at fruiting, elliptic-ovate, tapered or narrowed to a conspicuous, short, awnlike extension 1.2–2.0 mm long at the tip, pubescent with short, more or less spreading, glandular and nonglandular hairs. Petals 5.0–5.5 mm long, obtriangular, notched at the tip, reddish purple. Stamens 10. Staminodes absent. Mericarps 12–17 mm long at maturity, the seed-containing basal portion 2.0–2.5 mm long, the lateral surfaces smooth, pubescent with relatively short (0.2–0.5 mm) spreading hairs (these glandular and nonglandular), lacking a dorsal ridge or wing, the stylar beak with spreading, glandular and nonglandular hairs, the slender extension between the columnar portion and the stigmas 1–2 mm long. Seeds 1.9–2.1 mm long, the surface with a conspicuous network of ridges and pits. 2n=22. April–August.

Introduced, uncommon and sporadic in the eastern portion of the state (native of Europe, widely introduced in the eastern [mostly southeastern] U.S., western U.S., Canada, and Hawaii). Lawns and pen disturbed areas.

Steyermark (1963) knew this species only from a single site in St. Louis County, where he collected it in 1952, growing in a lawn along with G. molle.