Gray geranium or Renard

Family Geraniaceae. A plant of the alpine meadows of the Caucasus. It grows on sunny rocky slopes and near shrubs.

Perennial with a thick oblique rhizome about 2 cm thick. It produces many basal leaves and one or two stems. The stem is 15-25 cm tall, erect, hairy. Basal leaves are on hairy petioles, 5-11 cm long, five-angled to rounded, up to half five-lobed, the lobes broadly ovate, toothed. The leaf is olive-green, by mid-summer attractively patterned on the upper surface. Flower stalks are densely hairy, flowers number 4-8 in a loose inflorescence. Petals are deeply two-lobed, mostly cuneate, hairy, pale, with intense violet veins. It grows from late April until the frosts. It blooms in June-July and fruits in July-August. Light-loving plant, prefers loose soils. Grows well on gravel and sands. Propagation by seeds. When sown in autumn, it produces seedlings in spring that flower in the second year. An excellent plant for rock gardens. Can also be grown in containers and vases. Deserves wider use.