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Pelargonium triste
Also called Cinnamon Geranium, Clove Scented Storksbill, Night Scented Pelargonium, Night Scented Storksbill, Sad Storksbill
Night Scent Pelargonium is a South African geophyte grown for its fragrant, star-shaped flowers that open at night. It is a tuberous species that dies back to the tuber in hot, dry summer, so keep it dry during dormancy.
Pelargonium triste, is a geophyte with flowering stems of about 25 cm (9.8 in) high on average, that is assigned to the Stork's bill family. It has hairy, divided and softly feathered leaves that are about twice as long as wide, resemble carrot leaves, and emerge from the tuberous rootstock directly at ground level. The bracts on the flowering stems are usually much smaller than the leaves at ground level. It carries inconspicuous, star-shaped flowers, each with a "spur" that is merged with the flower stalk, with five free green sepals, 5 pale yellow petals, 10 filaments, only 7 of them initially carrying an anther and a style with 5 curved branches. The flowers are crowded in umbels, and mostly there are slight to intense maroon to black markings that may be small or cover the entire petal except for a narrow line along the margins.
The night-scented pelargonium is common in parts of the Northern and Western Cape Provinces of South Africa, from the Cape Peninsula in the southwest to the Orange River in the north and Mossel Bay in the east. It can be found on coastal sands, but is also present on slopes up to an elevation of 1,800 m (5,900 ft). Across this entire region, most precipitation falls during the winter half year, but the annual rainfall varies over its distribution area from about 100 mm (3.9 in) to over 600 mm (24 in). It is most apparent in open areas, but as the fynbos develops, the plants get shaded by the surrounding shrubs and stop flowering. The large underground tuber however enables the plants to survive for many years and reappear after a fire has destroyed the above ground vegetation. The deep hypantium and night scents are suggestive that the flowers are pollinated by night-active, long-tongued insects such as moths. In Pelargonium, the seed capsule splits open along its length when dry, so releasing the seeds. The seed is dispersed on the wind carried by its feathery plumes.
John Tradescant the Younger, a well-known plant collector, took the night-scented pelargonium to England in 1632, making it one of the first species from the Cape that was cultivated in the United Kingdom. The tubers are rich in tannin and are used in Namaqualand for tanning leather, which gives it a reddish-brown color. Infusions of the tubers have been used in traditional medicine to treat dysentery and diarrhea.
Sorrel Leaf Pelargonium · Hooded crane's bill · Large Flower Pelargonium · Sweet scented geranium · Zonal geranium · Scarlet geranium · Butterfly Storksbill · Hanging geranium · Rasp-leaf pelargonium · Black Pelargonium · Grapeleaf geranium · Geranium
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Pelargonium triste 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.
