5. Geranium molle L. (dovesfoot crane’s bill)

Pl. 422 o; Map 1887

Plants annual or biennial, usually taprooted. Aerial stems 20–50 cm long, spreading to ascending, moderately pubescent with relatively long (1.0–1.7 mm) loosely upward- to downward-pointing nonglandular hairs, often also with minute glandular hairs. Leaves basal and opposite, the uppermost leaves usually alternate, the basal ones long-petiolate, those of the stems with progressively shorter petioles. Leaf blades 0.8–4.0 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 longer nonglandular and shorter glandular hairs. Inflorescences appearing axillary, mostly 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, longer nonglandular and shorter glandular hairs. Sepals 3–5 mm long, not becoming enlarged at fruiting, elliptic-ovate, tapered or narrowed to an inconspicuous, minute (0.1–0.2 mm), sharp point at the tip, pubescent with longer, more or less spreading, nonglandular and sparse shorter glandular hairs. Petals 4–7 mm long, obtriangular, notched at the tip, bright pinkish purple. Stamens 10. Staminodes absent. Mericarps 8–14 mm long at maturity, the seed-containing basal portion 1.8–2.1 mm long, the lateral surfaces obliquely cross-wrinkled, glabrous (except for a few hairs at the very base), lacking a dorsal ridge or wing, the stylar beak with spreading to loosely ascending nonglandular hairs, the slender extension between the columnar portion and the stigmas 2–5 mm long. Seeds 1.4–1.8 mm long, the surface appearing smooth or with a faint fine network of ridges and pits. 2n=26. April–August.

Introduced, uncommon in the Ozark and Ozark Border Divisions (native of Europe, Asia, widely introduced in the U.S. and Canada but apparently still absent from the Great Plains; also Hawaii, South America, Africa, Australia, New Zealand). Roadsides, lawns, pastures, and open 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. dissectum.