Geranium carolinianum

Carolina geranium

Family: Geraniaceae · Type: annual · Native

Carolina geranium is a native annual found in northwestern, central, and southern California, including the Sierra Nevada, Central Valley, Coast Ranges, and Mojave Provinces in open grasslands, scrub, and forest habitats at elevations below 1,700 meters. Flowering from February to August, this plant produces white to rose-pink flowers 5.5 to 6 millimeters long with petals that are slightly notched. Growing with erect stems 10 to 70 centimeters tall, covered in dense, short, spreading or reflexed hairs, it develops a distinctive growth pattern. Its leaves are deeply divided into 5 to 7 oblong to wedge-shaped segments, with blade widths ranging from 2.5 to 8.5 centimeters. The plant produces a distinctive elongated fruit with a narrow beak 15 to 19 millimeters long, covered in dense hairs.

Habitat: Open to shaded sites, grassland, scrub, forest

Bloom period: Feb-Aug

Elevation: < 1700 m

Bioregions: NW (exc NCoRH), CaR, SNF, c SNH, GV, CW (exc SCoRI), SW (exc WTR, SnJt), MP (exc Wrn)

California counties: Los Angeles, San Diego, San Bernardino, Orange, Napa, Marin, Ventura, Riverside, Mariposa, Butte, Lassen, Santa Cruz, Fresno, Sonoma, Solano, Santa Clara, San Mateo, Monterey, Lake, Contra Costa, Tulare, Santa Barbara, Mendocino, Sutter, Alameda, San Luis Obispo, El Dorado, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Calaveras, Amador, Shasta, Tehama, Colusa, Modoc, Humboldt, Siskiyou, Tuolumne, Madera, Stanislaus, Trinity

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