I’ve known geraniums most of my life. They were a standard feature of many of the homes we drove past on Sunday afternoons. These are definitely geranium leaves, but the flower, which is strangely impressive, did not strike me as being at all a geranium. Well, it turns out, according to Wikipedia, there are “422 species of flowering annual, biennial, and perennial [geraniums] that are commonly known as the cranesbills”. Of course you expect lots of variety in the plant world, just as two beautiful girls are never completely beautiful in exactly the same way. But none of the pictures, admittedly not 422 pictures, looked like what I grew up recognizing as geraniums.

Then I read the following: “Confusingly, "geranium" is also the common name of members of the genus Pelargonium, which are also in the Geraniaceae family and are widely grown as horticultural bedding plants.” Moving to Pelargonium I discovered there are “200 species of perennials, succulents, and shrubs, commonly known as geraniums.” It went on to say, “Confusingly, Geranium is the botanical name (and also common name) of a separate genus of related plants often called cranesbills.”

I’m getting confused.

But down the page a bit is a very nice picture of a pink flowered plant that I would point to if I were trying to explain what a geranium was. It has the title Pelargonium x hortorum (Zonal). And the text to the side reads,

These are known as zonal geraniums because many have zones or patterns in the center of the leaves, this is the contribution of the Pelargonium zonale parent. Common names include storksbill, fish or horseshoe geraniums. They are also referred to as Pelargonium × hortorum Bailey. Zonal pelargoniums are tetraploid, mostly derived from P. inquireans and P. zonale, together with P. scandens and P. frutetorum.

I think it fair to say that confusion now predominates.

I have narrowed the picture posted today down to six hundred twenty some possibilities, assuming it is, in fact, a geranium, whether botanical or common, and discovered that the geranium I grew up with is in fact, if I understood correctly, a Zonal Pelargonium. I don’t think I can make it any more clear than that. The rest I leave to you.