W84 



STICKY GERANIUM 



Gera'nium viscosis'simum, syns. G. inci'sum, G. orega'num, G. strigo'sum 



"Seed pods "(carpels) 5, each 1-seeded 

 and tipped by a long, persistent stalk 

 (style); the 5 styles grown together 

 below and to the elongated central col- 

 umn from which they separate at ma- 

 turity by simply recoiling 



Flowers rather large, showy, purple 

 or rose-colored, rarely white, borne on 

 branched, hairy, leafy-bracted stalks at 

 ends of stems 



Petals 5, up to nearly 1 in. long, 

 broadly reverse-heart-shaped, usually 

 conspicuously veined, densely bearded 

 within at their bases 



Stamens 10, joined together in a tube 

 by their stalks, with glands at their 

 bases, 5 of them longer than the other 5 



Outer flower parts (sepals) 5, greenish 

 or somewhat purplish, sometimes with 

 papery edges, sticky-hairy, abruptly 

 narrowed into a short, stout awa at the 

 tip 



Leaves more or less hairy, mostly 

 basal and long-stalked; stem leaves 

 opposite, smaller and shorter-stalked 

 than the basal leaves, rounded in out- 

 line, palmately 5-lobed, each lobe again 

 deeply cleft, sometimes bearing bulblets 

 in their axils, and with bracts (stipules) 

 at base 



Stems stout, often forked, up to 3 ft. 

 high, soft-hairy 



Root crown stout, woody, sometimes 

 branched near top, covered with old 

 leafstalk and stem bases 



Sticky geranium, a coarse, leafy, branched perennial herb from 1 to 

 3 feet tall, is so named because it is practically covered with glandular 

 hairs which make it sticky to the touch (viscid). It is perhaps the 

 best known of the western geraniums since it is widely distributed 

 throughout the West, ranging from British Columbia and Saskatche- 

 wan to California and Colorado, but apparently it does not extend 

 into Arizona and New Mexico. Specimens have been, collected 

 throughout a wide altitudinal range as low as 750 feet above sea 

 level in Oregon and up to 10,000 feet in Utah. The plant is most 

 abundant in parks and glades of the foothills and mountains at 

 elevations of between 5,000 and 8,000 feet. 



This plant grows in abundance and is conspicuous on many forest 

 ranges especially in the Intermountain region, but seldom occurs in 

 pure stands. Sticky geranium is characteristic of open situations, 

 being frequently associated with wheatgrasses, fescues, bluegrasses, 



