Geranium aequale

Family: Geraniaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Geranium aequale is a naturalized annual found in southern San Diego County in open to shaded disturbed ground at elevations below 200 meters. Flowering from May to August, this plant produces red-purple petals in delicate flowers about 4 millimeters long with notched petals. Growing with decumbent to erect stems 10 to 40 centimeters tall and sparse soft hairs, it has a distinctively divided leaf blade 1.5 to 5.8 centimeters wide with 7 to 9 obtriangular segments. Its leaves are deeply cut, dividing approximately 60 to 75 percent toward the base, creating an intricate, lacy green appearance. The fruit develops a narrow beak 7 to 10.5 millimeters long with a small tip, giving the plant a distinctive seed-dispersal mechanism.

Habitat: Open to shaded sites, disturbed ground

Bloom period: May-Aug

Elevation: < 200 m

Bioregions: s SCo (San Diego Co.)

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.