Pelargonium zonale

Horseshoe geranium, Horseshoe Geranium

Family: Geraniaceae · Type: shrub · Not Native

Horseshoe geranium is a naturalized shrub found in coastal California regions including the Central Coast, San Francisco Bay Area, and Southern California, typically occurring in disturbed sites at elevations below 300 meters. Flowering throughout the entire year, this plant produces pink-purple flowers in clusters of 5 to 70 blooms with petals less than 20 millimeters long. Growing with spreading or erect stems over one meter tall and soft-woody branches, it develops a distinctive appearance. Its leaves are round to heart-shaped, typically 5 to 8 centimeters wide, with a notable dark horseshoe-shaped band on the leaf surface and 3 to 5 irregularly toothed lobes. The plant's unique leaf marking and year-round flowering make it a recognizable non-native species in California's disturbed landscapes.

Habitat: Disturbed sites

Bloom period: All year

Elevation: < 300 m

Bioregions: CCo, SnFrB, SCo

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