E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Geranium carolinianum L.
Carolina geranium (Carolina crane's-bill)
Geraniaceae (Geranium family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

© Jamie Fenneman  Email the photographer   (Photo ID #25069)

E-Flora BC Static Map
Distribution of Geranium carolinianum
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Species Information

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General:
Annual herb from a taproot; stems erect, branched, spreading-hairy, usually somewhat glandular, especially above, 5-70 cm tall.
Leaves:
Basal leaves few, reduced and soon deciduous; stem leaves opposite, more or less rounded in outline, 2-5 cm wide, palmately divided into 5 segments, these cleft or toothed 1/3 to 1/2 their length, spreading-hairy.
Flowers:
Inflorescence a congested, terminal cluster of short-stalked flowers; petals pink or rose, rounded, 3-7 mm long; sepals equal to or slightly longer than the petals, bristle-tipped, the tips 1-1.5 mm long; stamens 10, fertile, not fused.
Fruits:
Carpels, stiff-hairy with ascending hairs and shorter, spreading hairs; styles 1.3-1.6 cm long, the beak 2.0-2.5 mm long; seeds oblong, obscurely net-veined and honeycombed.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Dry meadows and rock outcrops in the lowland, steppe and montane zones; locally frequent on SE Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands, rare eastward in S BC; E to ON and S to TN, KS, MO, SD, MT and N CA.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Ecology

Ecological Framework for Geranium carolinianum

The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)

Site Information
Value / Class

Minimum

Average

Maximum

Elevation (metres) 385 648 975
Slope Gradient (%) 0 23 60
Aspect (degrees)
[0 - N; 90 - E; 180 - S; 270 - W]
185 219 335
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR)
[0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic;
8 - hydric]
4 4 5
Modal Nutrient Regime
Class
B
Number of field plots
 species was recorded in:
4
Modal BEC Zone Class
IDF
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in: IDF(2), PP(1)

Climate

The climate type for this species, as reported in the: "British Columbia plant species codes and selected attributes. Version 6 Database" (Meidinger et al. 2008), is not evaluated, unknown or variable.

Synonyms and Alternate Names

Geranium carolinianum var. sphaerospermum (Fernald) Breitung

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Additional Photo Sources

General References