A perennial plant with pink or white flowers in a loose clusters of 2-5 at end of branches bearing a pair of deeply 5-lobed leaves.

1-1 1/2" wide; sepals 5, pointed, much shorter than petals; petals 5, each 1/2-1" long, rounded, separate; stamens 10; pistil 1.

4-5" wide, gray-green, palmately divided into deeply toothed lobes; basal leaves long-stalked.

Elongated, beaked capsule, splitting into 5 upward-curving strips still united at top.

1-2'.

April-June.

Woods, thickets, and meadows.

Most of our Geraniums are recognized by their palmately lobed leaves and distinctive capsules. An annual or biennial, Bicknell's Crane's Bill (G.bicknellii) has much smaller flowers, notched petals, and more finely divided leaves; it too is found in the Northeast and Midwest. A more southern, annual species, the closely related Carolina Geranium (G.carolinianum), occurs throughout our area and beyond; it has a more compact flower cluster. The common name Crane's Bill as well as the genus name, from the Greek geranos ("a crane"), refer to the beak-like capsule. A number of species are naturalized from Europe; a few are grown in gardens.