Shining Crane's-bill (Invasive Plants of Maryland)

Shining Crane's-bill

Geranium lucidum

Description ⁷

The shining cranesbill is an annual plant with stems up to 35 cm (14 in) long, brittle, fleshy, hairless and often red. Leaves round or kidney-shaped and glossy, palmately-lobed or divided bluntly to about two-thirds of their depth, sometimes with short hairs on the upper surface. Flowers with parts in fives, with sharply keeled sepals and bright pink, rounded petals, some 10 mm (0.4 in) in diameter, the 8 to 10 mm (0.3 to 0.4 in) petals having long bases and flat blades. These are born in pairs from May to August. The fruits are beaked capsules, ridged and slightly hairy, at least on the edges, and splitting open into five parts. The seeds are smooth. The whole plant has a tendency to turn red.

Invasive species ⁷

In parts of the United States including California, Washington state and the Willamette Valley in Oregon, shining cranesbill has become naturalised. It was first detected in the US in 1971 and has since been declared a noxious weed in Washington and Oregon. A 2013 survey by USDA reported that it was present in five counties in Washington, thirteen in Oregon and two in California. It was detected in Canada in 1982, on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, and has been introduced into Australia and New Zealand.

When naturalised in the Pacific Northwest, it is often seen in association with the related European plant, herb Robert (Geranium robertianum), also classified as a noxious weed. In these areas, shining cranesbill seems to thrive in woodlands and forest glades, where it tends to overwhelm the native plants. State legislation has been enacted making it "prohibited to transport, buy, sell, offer for sale, or to distribute plants or plant parts, seeds in packets, blends or "wildflower mixes" of this species, into or within the state of Washington".

National distribution ⁸

Canada

Origin: Exotic

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Unknown/Undetermined

Confidence: Confident

United States

Origin: Exotic

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Unknown/Undetermined

Confidence: Confident

Sources and Credits

no rights reserved, uploaded by Peter de Lange
(c) anonymous, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://www.biopix.com/photos/Geranium-lucidum-00014.JPG
(c) anonymous, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://www.biopix.com/photos/JCS-Geranium-lucidum-67338.JPG
(c) anonymous, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://www.biopix.com/photos/Geranium-lucidum-00015.JPG
(c) anonymous, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://www.biopix.com/photos/JCS-Geranium-lucidum-66919.JPG
(c) anonymous, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://www.biopix.com/PhotosMedium/JCS%20Geranium%20lucidum%2031046.jpg
(c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geranium_lucidum
(c) NatureServe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/29009669

More Info

Range Map

iNat Map

Flower color	pink

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