Dovesfoot Geranium

Description:

Geranium molle is a small plant reaching on average 5–30 centimetres in height. It is a very branched plant, quite hairy, with several ascending stems. The leaves are palmate, cut 5 to 9 times. The basal leaves are arranged in a rosette, the upper ones are sessile, rounded and hairy, with a long petiole of about 5–12 millimetres. The flowers are pinkish-purple, 8-12 mm in diameter, with very jagged petals. It blooms from April to September. The flowers are hermaphrodite and mainly pollinated by Hymenoptera. Fruits are glabrous, usually with 6-9 transverse ridges.

Habitat:

It prefers sunny places on sandy and relatively dry soils, dry meadows, hedges, banks and waste ground. It is native to the Mediterranean and sub-Mediterranean areas, but is now naturalized in other parts of Europe, in southwestern and central Asia and in North Africa.