Scarlet geranium is a South African and one of the parents of the garden geraniums familiar in American window boxes. Scarlet geranium belongs to a different group from wild cranesbills.
Appearance
Growth form
A branching shrub up to about 6½ ft (2 m) tall; young stems are juicy () and turn woody with age
Leaves
Rounded, sticky-hairy leaves that leave a rusty-brown stain on your fingers — the source of the name inquinans ("staining")
Flowers
Usually scarlet, but sometimes pale pink or white, with 5–30 flowers in a cluster. Wild plants can bloom through the year in South Africa.
Common bedding plants are often zonal . A flower photo alone may not reliably separate one from this wild parent.
Why they get mixed up · This species is one of the parents of the hybrid.
Where it lives
Typical habitats
Containers and window boxes
Garden beds
Range
Wild plants grow along the coast of eastern South Africa, from the Eastern Cape to southern KwaZulu-Natal. In the U.S. it is not native, though it has been recorded in California. Garden geranium hybrids are far more familiar in American containers.
Growing it
Propagation
It grows easily from seed and cuttings. With horseshoe pelargonium (Pelargonium zonale), it gave rise to garden geranium hybrids (Pelargonium × hybridum).
Name and classification
About the name
Scented storksbill is another name for this species. The garden geranium hybrid is also called Pelargonium × hortorum. Scarlet pelargonium is another name for this species.