Species: Geranium viscosissimum var. viscosissimum Fisch. & C.A. Mey. ex C.A. Mey.

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Geranium viscosissimum var. viscosissimum Fisch. & C.A. Mey. ex C.A. Mey.

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TAXONOMY

Family:

Geraniaceae

Genus:

Geranium

Species Synonyms:

Geranium attenuilobum G.N. & F.F. Jones

Common Names:

sticky purple geranium

DISTRIBUTION

Canada:

southern British Columbia – southern Alberta – southwestern Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan:

southwestern Saskatchewan; Cypress Hills, Wood Mountain

Ecoregion:

Cypress Upland, Mixed Grassland

HABITAT

Saskatchewan:

moist, wooded, shrubby or grassy slopes

Associated species:

Bromus marginatus, Carex raynoldsii, Festuca hallii, Perideridia gairdneri

RARITY STATUS

Provincial Status According
to Harms (2003):

Vulnerable

Nature Conservancy Status:

G5 S2

Saskatchewan Species at
Risk Status:

None

COSEWIC Status:

None

Geranium viscosissimum var. viscosissimum is vulnerable because it is rare or uncommon in Saskatchewan and is regionally restricted to the Cypress Hills and surrounding area. This species is usually locally numerous within limited areas. No immediate threats are known for this species.

SPECIES DESCRIPTION

Height:

30 – 90 cm

Roots:

rootstock stout, woody

Stem:

perennial, herbaceous, hirsute, glandular-pubescent

Leaves:

5 – 10 cm wide, deeply palmately lobed, lobes 5 – 7, strigose to hirsute and somewhat glandular

Inflorescence:

cyme usually 2-flowered; peduncles 2 – 6 cm long, densely glandular-villose

Flowers:

calyx 8 – 12 mm long, awned; corolla 14 – 20 mm long, pilose at base for 1/5 of length, pinkish lavender to purple; stamens 10, didynamous; stylar column 3 – 5 cm long

Fruits:

capsule splitting from the base upwards into 5 segments, recoiled when dry, glandular-hirsute, beak 10 – 14 mm long; seeds 3 – 3.5 mm long, faintly reticulate, brownish

GERANIUM KEY FOR SPECIES FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN

1 Petals < 12 mm long; anthers < 1 mm long; terminal beak of mature fruit lacking or < 6 mm long	Halenia
1 Petals > 12 mm long; anthers 2 – 3 mm long; terminal beak of mature fruit to over 1 cm long	2

2 Mature pedicels more than 2x longer than calyx; stylar beak of fruit 3 – 5 mm long	G. bicknellii
2 Mature pedicels equal to or less than 2x longer than calyx; stylar beak of fruit < 2.5 mm long	G. carolinianum var. sphaerospermum

3 Petals white or pale pink with darker veins, pilose 1/2 their length from base; inflorescence with purple glandular hairs	G. richardsonii
3 Petals pinkish, lavender to purple, pilose 1/5 their length from base; inflorescence with yellow glandular hairs	4

4 Lower petioles and stem glabrous to pubescent but not glandular	G. viscosissimum var. incisum
4 Lower petioles and stem hirsute and glandular	G. viscosissimum var. viscosissimum