Thunberg's Geranium

A perennial that produces white to pale pink flowers from summer to autumn. It is one of the three most important folk medicines in Japan, used as an antidiarrheal and digestive remedy; its name means "present proof" (i.e., it works immediately). When ripe, the fruits explosively curl back to catapult the seeds (ballistic dispersal). White-flowered forms tend to be more common in western Japan, and pale purple forms in eastern Japan.

Identification Points

• ✓Small five-petaled flowers (white to pale purple)
• ✓Leaves are palmately 3- to 5-lobed
• ✓Fruit has a long beak-like structure that explosively dehisces when ripe
• ✓Stems and leaves are covered with spreading hairs

Morphological TraitsAI-estimated, needs verification

Phylogenetic Positionフウロソウ科 →