Nomenclature

Species name:

Geranium dissectum   L.

Author(s):

Carl von Linné
   Sweden, 1707-1778

Common name:

Cut-leaved Crane's Bill
Cut-leaf Geranium
Wrinkle Seeded Crane's Bill

Maltese name:

Ġeranju tal-pizzi

Plant Family:

Geraniaceae   (Geranium Family)

Name Derivation:

Geranium = from the Greek geranos - "crane", referring to the slender beak-like fruit. (Greek);
dissectum = dissected, deeply cut; referring to the leaves (Latin).

Synonyms:

Geranium baumgartenianum, G. laxum, G. palmatum, G. potentilloides.

Plant Description

Life Cycle:

Annual

Habitat:

Arable land especially in damp or shaded areas such as beside valleys or woodland

Sources in Malta:

Uncommon, but where present it is found in numerous populations. Examples include Buskett and Mistra Valley.

Plant Height:

15-50cm

Flowering Time:

Feb-Apr

An erect to ascending annual plant that forms several branches or long petiolated leaves along its stem length usually from common stem nodes. Flower peduncles also formed from these nodes. The herbaceous plant have short deflexed hairs.

The leaves are about 2-5cm wide are there deeply cut into 5 or 7 narrow, rhombic lobes. The 'cut' almost reach the base (petiole) of the leaf. Each lobe is further deeply cut into 3 narrow, linear segments and in turn these might posses 2 or 3 teeth. Lobe segments are diverging from the leaf centre. Leaf margin is visibly pubescent.

The flowers are borne in pairs or few-flowered cymes of which peduncles are shorter from the subtending leaf petioles. They have a densely pubescent calyx made of 5 free sepals about 5-6mm long with a bristle-like, reddish tip. The corolla is rather small, having 5mm long petals which are of the same length or slightly shorter from the sepals. They slightly overlap each other and have a marked bilobed tip. Petals are pink- magenta colour with 3-5 diverging violet veins.

At the central part, there are the reproductive organs of which the female part consists of a superior ovary and the male part consists of 10 stamens. The ovary posses a white erect style with a terminal stigma that branches into 5 shortly filiform and slight curved parts, all being lilac-peach in colour. The stamens are arranged into 2 whorls (circular rows of 5 stamens each) one being slightly higher form the other, and closer to the central style/stigma. They have pale indigo anthers producing lilac pollen. The seem to fall at the later blossoming period so as the stigma is more exposed and receptive to pollen from other flowers.

At the fruiting phase the petals and stamen fall leaving the 5 sepals, 5 mericarps (initially fused, but later they become separated) and the style which enlargens and develops to a slender columnar structure known as a beak. The beak is about 2cm long, has a reddish tip and several hairs with reddish glands at the tip. The mericarps lack ridges and the oval seeds are about 1.5mm across and have a densely pitted texture.

The mericarps (each holding 1 seed) are connected to the upper part of the beak by a strap-like appendage (called rostrum) making the outer wall of the beak itself. When mature, this rostrum shrinks and pulls up the mericarps from their base with a sudden, inward-rolling (coiling) movement. While doing so, part of the mericarp wall remains attached at the base (receptacle) and so the seed is now partially exposed in the broken mericarp. During the sudden twirling movement of the mericarp, the loosely seated seed is ejected out to long distances. What is left is a coiled rostrum with an empty, half broken mericarp. An elaborated mechanical dispersion of many Geraniaceae species.

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