View source for Geranium maculatum

{{Short description|Species of flowering plant in the family Geraniaceae}}
{{Redirect|Old Maid's Nightcap|other uses|Old Maid (disambiguation)}}
{{Redirect-distinguish-text|Wood geranium|[[wood cranesbill]] or woodland geranium, ''G. sylvaticum''}}
{{Speciesbox
|image = Geranium maculatum Leatherwood Lake.jpg
|status = G5
|status_system = TNC
|status_ref = <ref>{{cite web |url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.128506/Geranium_maculatum |title=''Geranium maculatum'' |website=NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data accessed through NatureServe Explorer |author=NatureServe |publisher=NatureServe |date=4 April 2025 |access-date=20 April 2025 |location=Arlington, Virginia}}</ref>
|genus = Geranium
|species = maculatum
|authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|L.]]
}}

'''''Geranium maculatum''''', the '''wild geranium''', '''spotted geranium''', or '''wood geranium''', is a [[perennial plant]] native to [[woodland]]s in eastern North America, from southern Manitoba and southwestern Quebec south to Alabama and Georgia and west to Oklahoma and South Dakota.<ref name="grin">{{GRIN | accessdate = 29 December 2017}}</ref><ref name="bf">BorealForest: [http://www.borealforest.org/world/herbs_shrubs/wild_geranium.htm ''Geranium maculatum'']</ref>

==Names==
It is known as '''spotted cranesbill''' or '''wild cranesbill''' in Europe, but the wood cranesbill is another plant, the related [[Geranium sylvaticum|''G. sylvaticum'']] (a European native called "woodland geranium" in North America). Colloquial names are '''alum root''', '''alum bloom''' and '''old maid's nightcap'''.

==Distribution==
It grows in dry to moist woods and is normally abundant when found.

==Description==
[[Image:G.maculatum.jpg|thumb|left|Flowers in late spring.]]
It is a [[perennial plant|perennial]] [[herbaceous plant]] growing to {{convert|60|cm|ft|0|abbr=on}} tall, producing upright, usually unbranched stems and flowers in spring to early summer. The [[leaf|leaves]] are palmately lobed with five or seven deeply cut lobes, {{convert|10|–|12.5|cm|0|abbr=on}} broad, with a [[petiole (botany)|petiole]] up to {{convert|30|cm|abbr=on}} long arising from the [[rootstock]]. They are deeply parted into three or five divisions, each of which is again cleft and toothed.

The flowers are {{convert|2.5|–|4|cm|1|abbr=on}} in diameter, with five rose-purple, pale or violet-purple (rarely white) petals and ten stamens. In the Northern Hemisphere, they appear from April to June (precise dates depend on the latitude).<ref name=bf/><ref name=mp>Missouriplants: [http://www.missouriplants.com/Blueopp/Geranium_maculatum_page.html ''Geranium maculatum'']</ref> They are grouped in loose [[corymb]]s or [[umbel]]s of two to five at the top of the [[peduncle (botany)|flower stems]].<ref name="illinois">{{cite web |title=Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum) |url=http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/woodland/plants/wild_geranium.htm |website=Illinois Wildflowers |date=2016 |last1=Hilty |first1=John}}</ref>

The fruit capsule, which springs open when ripe, consists of five cells each containing one [[seed]] joined to a long beak-like column {{convert|2|–|3|cm|1|abbr=on}} long (resembling  a [[crane (bird)|crane]]'s bill) produced from the center of the old flower.<ref name="bf" /> <!-- not a ref for the measurement -->

The [[rhizome]] is long, and {{convert|5|to|10|cm|0|abbr=on}} thick, with numerous branches. It is covered with scars, showing the remains of stems of previous years' growth. When dry it has a somewhat purplish color internally.<ref name="gleason">Gleason, H. A. (1952). ''The New Britton and Brown Illustrated Flora of the Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada'', Vol. 2, page 457. Hafner Press, New York. 63-16478.</ref>

==Cultivation==
[[File:Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum).jpg| thumb|350px|Wild Geranium flowers in spring in Massachusetts ]]
The plant is well-known in cultivation, and numerous [[cultivar]]s have been developed. The cultivar 'Elizabeth Ann' has gained the [[Royal Horticultural Society]]'s [[Award of Garden Merit]].<ref name = RHSPF>{{cite web |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/186784/i-Geranium-maculatum-i-Elizabeth-Ann-sup-(PBR)-sup/Details |title=RHS Plantfinder - ''Geranium maculatum'' 'Elizabeth Ann' |access-date=16 February 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/pdfs/agm-lists/agm-ornamentals.pdf |title=AGM Plants - Ornamental |date=July 2017 |page=42 |publisher=Royal Horticultural Society |access-date=1 March 2018}}</ref>

==Other uses==
The plant has been used in [[herbal medicine]], and is also grown as a garden plant. Wild geranium is considered an astringent, a substance that causes contraction of the tissues and stops bleeding.<ref name=pfaf>{{cite web |website=Plants for a Future |url=http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Geranium+maculatum |title=''Geranium maculatum'' |access-date=20 April 2025}}</ref>  The [[Meskwaki]] brewed a root tea for toothache and for painful nerves and mashed the roots for treating hemorrhoids.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}

==References==
{{Commons category}}
{{Reflist}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q5549871}}

[[Category:Geranium|maculatum]]
[[Category:Flora of Northern America]]
[[Category:Plants used in traditional Native American medicine]]
[[Category:Plants described in 1753]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus]]