Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum)

Flower 1-1½ in., plant 1-2 ft., Geranium family

Wild geranium is a true geranium, unlike the garden flower of the same name. Its lavender flowers are small, with five rounded petals, and hang in loose clusters of two to five blooms. The five fringy parts of each leaf are so deep they almost appear to be separate leaves.

Some botanists call wild geranium “crane’s bill” because its seed capsules are shaped like the heads and beaks of tiny birds. The pods have the weird ability to pop when ripe, catapulting seeds into the air as far as 30 feet! This ensures the future of the species. Even more amazing, the geranium seed continues to move when it lands. It has a “tail” that curls when dry and straightens when wet. This allows the seed to “crawl” until it becomes stuck in a small hole or crack, where it can escape hungry doves, quail and chipmunks and germinate the next spring.

There is another, smaller wild geranium called Bicknell’s Cranesbill that has much smaller flowers and lacier leaves. It too is found in the Northeast and Midwest. Both wild geraniums bloom in woods, thickets, and meadows from April to June.