Pelargonium inquinans

Scarlet geranium

Family: Geraniaceae · Type: shrub · Not Native

Scarlet geranium is a naturalized shrub found in the San Francisco Bay Area in disturbed sites at elevations below 300 meters. Flowering all year, this plant produces vibrant red flowers approximately 15 to 20 millimeters long with petals of nearly equal size. Growing as a soft-woody subshrub with branched stems reaching 1 to 2 meters tall, it has dense soft hairs along its structure. Its leaves are round, approximately 4 to 8 centimeters wide, deeply notched at the base with 5 to 7 irregularly shaped lobes that have crenate edges and a succulent green appearance. The plant forms open clusters of 5 to 30 flowers with sepals measuring 5 to 7 millimeters long.

Habitat: Disturbed sites

Bloom period: All year

Elevation: < 300 m

Bioregions: SnFrB

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