Plant Preference/Growing Conditions:

The Cranesbill geranium grows best in an environment with a healthy amount of water and partial shade. Despite the preferences the plant is resilient to many different environment and can grow in harsher conditions. 

Growth Habit/Description:

Can grow to be small to large bushes. On average the Cranesbill geranium grows as a low mound and typically reaches about 6 inches to a few feet tall. Typically grow spread out, making them great ground covers. Leaves are palmately lobed, notched, and finer compared to other geraniums. 

Bloom Season:

Cranesbill geranium begins blooming in the early spring and continue through late summer. Flowers bloom in a variety of colors including blue, pink, white, and purple. 

Fall and/or Winter Interest

Yes.  In the fall Cranesbill geranium turns to a bright orange to red color. After the color change seed capsules begin forming on the plant. 

Host Plant for Caterpillars?

Yes. Cranesbill geranium is  a host for the leaf mining moth (Parectopa geraniella), and the white-marked tussock moth (Orgyia leucostigma) .

Other Known Ecological Value?

Yes.  It is a pollinator for many insects and native bees. It is even a food source for a specialist mining bee known as the cranesbill miner. 

Origin of Name:  The genus name of cranesbill geranium comes from the Greek word which means "crane". It was named this due to the fact that the plant's fruit is in the shape of a crane's bill. 

Related Plant Species:  Cranesbill geranium is most commonly mistaken for annual geraniums or pelargonium geraniums, and while they are in the same genus, they are different. It can most easily be distinguished from other geraniums based on the shape of the fruit, which is shaped like a crane's beak or the saucer shaped flowers that grow on the plant. 

Use For Food/Medicine:

The plant can be boiled to make a tea used for diarrhea, enflamed gums, mouth ulcers, and sore throat. The roots have been used on bleeding blood vessels to stop or limit bleeding. 

Native Plant Trust. Plant Finder. Geranium Maculatum: wild geranium, spotted crane's bill.  [Cited 2024, Sept 17].  Available from:  https://plantfinder.nativeplanttrust.org/plant/Geranium-maculatum

Arkansas Native Plant Society. Webmaster ANPS. (2017). Plant Society. Know Your Natives - Wild Geranium. [Cited 2024, Sept 17].  Available from:  https://anps.org/2017/04/18/know-your-natives-wild-geranium/

Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center Plant Database. (Last modified: 2023). Austin (TX):  University of Texas--Austin. Geranium maculatum.  [Cited 2024,, Sept 17].   Available from: https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=GEMA

Last edited by Addie Nance, September 2024.