Stats

Lifespan: Annual
Size: Small
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Temperate grassland
Range: North America
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Seeds
Defense: Camouflage
Status: Common

About

A low, weedy annual with deeply lobed leaves and small pink flowers, common in lawns and disturbed soil across the eastern US. Its seed pods have a long beak-like extension that splits and curls explosively to fling seeds away from the parent plant.

Life cycle

1.
seed
A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2.
sprout
A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3.
sapling
A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4.
mature
Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Geraniales
Family: Geraniaceae
Genus: Geranium
Species: Geranium carolinianum