Geranium richardsonii, June 10, 2021
Common & scientific name
Richardson’s geranium, Geranium richardsonii
Family
Geranium, Geraniaceae
Location
River valley, 8,300’
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.