Geranium richardsonii

Richardson's geranium

Family: Geraniaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Richardson's geranium is a California native perennial found in the Sierra Nevada, Transverse Ranges, San Jacinto Mountains, and Warner Mountains in moist meadows and conifer forests at elevations of 1,200 to 2,700 meters. Flowering from May to September, this plant produces white to pink flowers with purple veining, 14 to 20 millimeters long, each petal rounded and partially hairy. Growing with erect stems 15 to 90 centimeters tall that have soft hairs, it forms an upright clump with distinctive foliage. Its leaf blades are deeply divided into 5 to 7 rhombic segments, each blade measuring 4.4 to 11.3 centimeters wide, creating an intricate, lacy appearance. The distinctive fruit develops as a smooth mericarp with a narrow 13 to 17 millimeter beak, typical of the geranium family.

Habitat: Moist sites, meadows, conifer forest

Bloom period: May-Sep

Elevation: 1200-2700 m

Bioregions: SNH, TR, SnJt, Wrn

California counties: San Bernardino, Mariposa, Riverside, Fresno, El Dorado, Tulare, Mono, Inyo, Trinity, Nevada, Modoc, Madera, Alpine, Lassen, Tuolumne, Placer, Calaveras, Los Angeles, Siskiyou

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