Geranium richardsonii, June 16, 2022
G. richardsonii, Weller, 9,100’, July 11, 2022
Common & scientific name
Richardson’s geranium, Geranium richardsonii
Family
Geranium, Geraniaceae
Location
Roadside, 10,000’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Distinguishable from its close relative, Geranium viscosissimum, by the sticky, red-ball-tipped (“glandular”) hairs on the stem below its flower, as opposed to the yellow-tipped hairs on G. viscosissimum.
Geraniums have evolved a wonderful method for successfully planting their own seeds. Its seeds are attached to a reproductive part of the flower, the style, that coils like a spring. Once it falls to the ground, it coils and uncoils in response to changes in atmospheric pressure, thereby drilling itself and its seeds into the ground.