Geranium carolinianum

Sheded, Mohamed G., Ayed, Fatma A. A., Radwan, Tarek A. A. & Ahmed, Dalia A., 2024, Contribution to Egypt’s Flora: new records from Nile Islands, South Valley, Egypt, Phytotaxa 660 (1), pp. 22-34 : 30

Geranium carolinianum L.

The common names of G. carolinianum are Carolina crane’s-bill, Carolina Geranium , and Wild Geranium ( University of Texas 2023). The description of the recorded plant follows that in Blanchan (1916), Yeo (1984), and North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox ( North Carolina State University 2023). It was recorded for the first time in North Carolina ( Chayka 2023) and was described by Linnaeus (1753: 682).

In the United States, G. carolinianum has long been regarded as a weed that thrives in disturbed environments such as roadside ditches, gardens, abandoned fields, turfs, and uncultivated and fallow land (Gama-Archchige et al. 2010). It may have been introduced to Egypt with trading ships from China and India passing in the Red Sea and Suez Canal (Author conclusion). It prefers full sun to partial shade in gravelly, sandier, or hardpan clay-containing poorer soil. As a result, there will be less plant competition. Although this plant is offered for sale commercially, reseeding has the potential to make it weedy. Where it is naturally occurring it should be used for the greatest benefits. Birds will consume the seeds, while bees and other pollinators will visit the blossoms (Gama-Archchige et al. 2010).