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Pelargonium cucullatum
Also called Hooded-leaf pelargonium, Tree pelargonium, Hooded Storksbill, Wild Mallow
Hooded crane's bill is a hairy, upright, branching shrub of 1–2 m from South Africa's Western Cape, grown as a garden plant and houseplant since the 1600s. It does best in bright light with well-drained soil and sparing water.
Pelargonium cucullatum is a hairy, upright, branching, perennial shrub, of 1–2 m (3.3–6.6 ft) high, that has been assigned to the cranesbill family. It sprouts new stems from the underground rootstock and becomes woody at its base. It has alternately set, sometimes slightly succulent leaves crowded near the top of the branches, with leaf stalks and flat to hood-shaped leaf blades, with a rounded broad triangular to kidney-shaped outline of about 4–5.5 cm (1+3⁄5–2+1⁄5 in) long and 5–9 cm (2–3+3⁄5 in) wide, often somewhat incised, the margin with irregular teeth. The white to purplish red, 5-merous, somewhat mirror symmetrical flowers grow in umbel-like clusters, and each contain mostly 7 fertile stamens and 3 infertile staminodes (best checked in the bud) of different length. P. cucullatum has been cultivated as a garden ornamental and house plant since the 17th century.
All three subspecies grow in fynbos vegetation. Subspecies cucullatum occurs on the east coast of the Cape Peninsula and the Kogelberg, growing on sandy and well-drained soil that receives 400–800 mm (16–31 in) precipitation per year. The largest population of subsp. tabulare can be found on the south and west coast, and the inland of the Cape Peninsula, but it also occurs around Saldanha Bay. The subsp. strigifolium, is a montane taxon that can be found from near Caledon in the Kleinrivier Mountains in the east to the Hottentots Holland Mountains in the west, and from Baardskeerdersbos in the south to around Bainskloof in the north. It occurs on a variety of soils derived from sandstone, shale, tillite and granite, always above about 300 m (980 ft) altitude, receiving 600–1,000 mm (24–39 in) precipitation annually. The populations of all three subspecies of Pelargonium cucullatum in the wild are stable and their continued survival is considered to be of least concern.
Sorrel Leaf Pelargonium · Large Flower Pelargonium · Sweet scented geranium · Zonal geranium · Scarlet geranium · Butterfly Storksbill · Hanging geranium · Rasp-leaf pelargonium · Black Pelargonium · Night Scent Pelargonium · Grapeleaf geranium · Geranium
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Pelargonium cucullatum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
Pet safety from the ASPCA toxic and non-toxic plant lists.
