6. Geranium pusillum L. (small crane’s bill)
Pl. 422 n; Map
1888
Plants annual or
biennial, usually taprooted. Aerial stems 10–50 cm long, spreading to
ascending, moderately pubescent with short (0.1–0.3 mm) spreading glandular and
nonglandular hairs. Leaves basal and opposite, the uppermost leaves often
alternate, the basal ones long-petiolate, those of the stems with progressively
shorter petioles. Leaf blades 1.5–4.0(–6.0) cm long, wider than long to about
as long as wide, kidney-shaped to nearly circular in outline, shallowly to
deeply 5–9-lobed, the lobes more or less obtriangular, mostly shallowly but
sharply 3-lobed or toothed at the tip, the surfaces moderately pubescent with
short nonglandular hairs, those of the upper surface sometimes becoming sparse
with age. Inflorescences appearing axillary, short- to long-stalked, consisting
of pairs of flowers. Individual flower stalks 5–15 mm long, 2–4 times as long
as the sepals, pubescent with spreading, short, glandular and nonglandular
hairs. Sepals 3.0–4.5 mm long, not becoming enlarged at fruiting,
elliptic-ovate to ovate, tapered or narrowed to an inconspicuous, minute (to
0.1 mm), sharp point at the tip, pubescent with longer, more or less spreading,
nonglandular and sparse shorter glandular hairs. Petals 2.5–5.0 mm long,
obtriangular, notched at the tip, bright pinkish purple. Stamens 5(–7).
Staminodes (3–)5. Mericarps 9–12 mm long at maturity, the seed-containing basal
portion 1.7–1.9 mm long, the lateral surfaces smooth, moderately to densely and
minutely hairy, with a narrow riblike dorsal wing (or this extending all the
way around the mericarp), the stylar beak with minute ascending nonglandular
hairs, lacking an extension, narrowing directly from the columnar portion to
the stigmas. Seeds 1.6–1.8 mm long, the surface appearing smooth or with a
faint fine network of ridges and pits. 2n=26. April–August.
Introduced,
scattered to uncommon, mostly in the Ozark and Ozark Border Divisions (native
of Europe, Asia, widely introduced in the U.S. and Canada south to South
Carolina, Arkansas, and California; also Hawaii, South America, Africa, New
Zealand). Bottomland forests, openings of mesic upland forests, banks of
streams and rivers, and glades; also old fields, lawns, pastures, roadsides,
railroads, and moist open disturbed areas.