MGeranium caespitosum - Pineywoods GeraniumM
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Pineywoods Geranium (Geranium caespitosum), family Geraniaceae (Geranium)
A lovely geranium, Pineywoods has distinctive sepals interleaved between the flower petals that create a very attractive symmetry for the bloom. It is our favorite geranium. This plant is a perennial herb. The genus is large numbering about 422 species, but with only about 30 (both annual and perenial) here in North America. Another common name of members in this genus is cranesbill. The Rocky Mountains and adjacent western areas host EIGHT endemic species. Propagation is by seed-ejection with seeds actively discharged by the explosive recoil of the plant's awn. Weber shows that this species is present in Colorado in two subspecies forms: subsp atropurpureum, and subsp caespitosum. Our specimen is almost certainly atropurpureum based on his botanical key.
USES:
Per the website Native American Ethnobotany are the following uses of Geranium caespitosum by Native American tribes: Keres, Western Drug (Dermatological Aid) Roots bruised into a paste for sores - Keres, Western Food (Fodder) Considered good turkey food - Gosiute Drug (Antidiarrheal) Decoction of roots used for diarrhea. Plant used as an astringent.
Geranium Family Factoid: Weber and Witmann's book Colorado Flora Eastern Slope has a fascinating discourse on the family's method of propagation: 'The geraniums have developed a remarkable method of planting their seeds. The gynoecium splits into 5 1-seeded units (mericarps), each attached to a split length of style that coils like a spring. Falling to the ground, the spring coils and uncoils with changes in atmospheric humidity. If the spring lies against a grass stem or other fixed object, it drills the sharp pointed mericarp, containing the seed, into the earth.' End quote.
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Plant location: Found headed toward Wolf Creek Pass near the Pagosa Springs Colorado area on September 16, 2009. The elevation was 8413'. GPS coordinates: N37?27.128 W106?52.966. This species is found in only 7 of the United States: AZ , CO , NV , NM , TX , UT , WY. Colors can vary from pale pink, red(ish) to purple. Note the stem pattern of the plant. This is another characteristic that defines this specimen as subsp atropurpureum - stems slender and much-branched.Plant -
Bloom period: May to September. Leaves palmately lobed (has segments that radiate from a single point).Foliage -
Wolf Creek Pass near Pagosa Springs Colorado - September 16, 2009
View of sepals from behind. -
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Wolf Creek Pass near Pagosa Springs Colorado - September 16, 2009
This stem macro demonstrates a botanical characteristic that defines this specimen as geranium caespitosum subsp atropurpureum: lacking glandular pubesence. -
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Wolf Creek Pass near Pagosa Springs Colorado - September 16, 2009
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Wolf Creek Pass near Pagosa Springs Colorado - September 16, 2009
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Wolf Creek Pass near Pagosa Springs Colorado - September 16, 2009
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