Geranium molle

Crane's bill geranium

Family: Geraniaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Crane's bill geranium is a naturalized annual found in California Floristic Province in open to shaded sites at elevations below 500 meters. Flowering from February to August, this plant produces red-purple flowers 3 to 10.5 millimeters long with notched petals. Growing with decumbent to erect stems 10 to 45 centimeters tall that have sparse, soft hairs, it spreads across disturbed ground. Its leaves are divided nearly to the base with 7 to 9 obtriangular segments, each leaf blade 9 to 52 millimeters wide. The distinctive fruit has a narrow beak 6 to 11 millimeters long with a small tip.

Habitat: Open to shaded sites, disturbed ground

Bloom period: Feb-Aug

Elevation: < 500 m

Bioregions: CA-FP

California counties: San Luis Obispo, Kern, Los Angeles, Ventura, Marin, Mendocino, San Bernardino, Monterey, Fresno, Santa Clara, San Francisco, Solano, Humboldt, Napa, Tehama, Butte, El Dorado, Placer, Tulare, Alameda, San Benito, Santa Cruz, Amador, Calaveras, Nevada, Sacramento, Lake, Yolo, Contra Costa, Sonoma, Sutter, Glenn, Mariposa, Del Norte, Santa Barbara, Trinity, San Mateo, Yuba, Colusa

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