Family |
Geranicaceae
Geranium dissectum
L.
Geranium dissectum L.
(First published in Cent. Pl. I: 21 (1755); Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, Pl. CLXXXII nº 3; 1970)
• Life-form & habit : Annual herb, lightly hispid with retrorse hairs; stem erect, branched, 10–50 cm tall according to Mouterde, sometimes 15–69 cm in the revision of Aedo et al.
• Leaves : Leaves orbicular in outline, palmatipartite, divided into 5–7 lobes, the lobes themselves deeply divided into linear segments; basal leaves usually in a more or less persistent rosette; cauline leaves usually opposite, sometimes the lower ones alternate.
• Inflorescence & flowers : Peduncles short; pedicels often glandular, spreading to deflexed after anthesis; sepals flat, hispid, shortly aristate, the awns caducous; petals pink, obcordate, ciliate toward the base, 4–5 mm long in Mouterde, 2.9–5.8 mm in Aedo et al.
• Fruit : Fruit about 2 cm long in Mouterde; valves velvety. Aedo et al. give fruits 15.1–18.5 mm long, with brownish mericarps 2.3–2.9 × 1.7–2.2 mm, bearing patent eglandular hairs and sometimes glandular hairs; rostrum 11.1–13.5 mm long; seeds 1.7–2.2 × 1.2–2 mm.
• Phenology : Flowers from February to April in Mouterde; Aedo et al. record flowering specimens from January to December across its wider range.
• Habitat & elevation : Hedges, roadsides and cultivated ground; also edge of forest, prairies, fields and disturbed areas in the broader revision, from sea level to about 2000 m.
• Lebanese distribution : Recorded by Mouterde from Saïda, Beyrouth, Antélias, Tripoli, the plain of ‘Akkar, Chemlan, Jour-el-Ballout, Chtaura, Marj and Qabbélias. The plate was drawn from material from Jour-el-Ballout.
• Native range : Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Austria, Azores, Baleares, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canary Is., Central European Russia, Corse, Cyprus, Czechia-Slovakia, Denmark, East Aegean Is., East European Russia, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Kriti, Krym, Lebanon-Syria, Libya, Madeira, Morocco, Netherlands, North Caucasus, North European Russia, Northwest European Russia, Norway, NW. Balkan Pen., Palestine, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sardegna, Sicilia, South European Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tadzhikistan, Transcaucasus, Tunisia, Türkiye, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine.
• Introduced range : Alabama, Amsterdam-St.Paul Is., Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Arkansas, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, British Columbia, California, Cape Provinces, Chatham Is., Chile Central, Chile South, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Eritrea, Georgia, Great Britain, Haiti, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Ireland, Japan, Kansas, Kentucky, Kermadec Is., Korea, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Southwest, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New South Wales, New York, New Zealand North, New Zealand South, Norfolk Is., North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Peru, South Australia, South Carolina, Taiwan, Tasmania, Tennessee, Texas, Uruguay, Victoria, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Western Australia.
• Diagnostic remarks : Distinguished from the perennial members of Geranium sect. Dissecta by its annual life-form, deeply divided leaves, short petals, and cymules that do not overtop the subtending leaf. Aedo et al. note that it is often confused with Geranium columbinum, but G. columbinum has a different fruit-discharge structure, with a callus rather than a prong, and its pedicel plus peduncle clearly overtops the subtending leaf.