Look into the carmine pink petals of Geranium psilostemon: the black lines spaced evenly and radiating out from the base to the tip of the petal resemble a geisha girl’s perfectly manicured eye lashes. Our specimen was collected in Turkey near Trabzon on the Black Sea coast at an altitude of around 1,450m.

This herbaceous geranium is a vigorous clump former, reaching 1.6m and still able to withstand a battering from wind and rain without additional support. Though it enjoys a warm climate, it nevertheless colonises and grows to good effect here.

The distance between nodes can be 600mm; swollen basal nodes split and shoot away. The leaves are soft to the touch, deeply divided and held on long petioles. The flower buds nod downwards in anticipation of opening. The petals are cupped initially and reflex with age. On dropping, the spider-like floral parts remain encased by five green sepals with prominent tips.

Geranium psilostemon

Geranium psilostemon – habit