Erect, branching plant about a foot tall. Stems hairy. Leaves approximately pentagonal, deeply and somewhat irregularly cut. Flowers on long stalks, pink to purple with 5 petals. Fruit a capsule with a long beak (hence the name "cranesbill"), that splits open to release the seeds.

An exotic weed from Europe. In Virginia common in the mountains. Prefers roadsides, lawns, woodland edges. Occasional in Wildwood.

There are a number of geraniums in the Park. The exotic dovefoot geranium (G. molle) is a smaller plant with almost round leaves less deeply notched and flowers that seem to have 10 petals. The exotic small geranium is also a smaller, creeping plant, with wider leaf segments. The native Carolina cranesbill (G.carolinianum) has paler flowers that are nearly stalkless. The native wild geranium (G. maculatum) is a larger plant with larger leaves and larger flowers.