Pelargonium cordifolium

Pelargonium cordifolium, the heart-leaved pelargonium, is a single-stemmed, spreading, aromatic shrub reaching heights from 1 m to 1,5 m. Mature plants have branched, woody lower stems that do not resprout after veld fires.

The flowers of P. cordifolium measure about 4 cm across. Flower colour varies in shades of pink, dark pink to maroon line markings appearing on the two petals of the upper lip. These bigger petals are broadly rounded and curving backwards. The lower three small ones are unmarked, straight and distinctively narrow with sharp or rounded tips. The calyx tube is more than 1 cm long. The flowering season is long, from mid-winter to mid-summer, peaking during spring.

The species distribution is along the coast and inland from Bredasdorp in the Western Cape to Stutterheim in the Eastern Cape.

The habitat is sheltered places in moist, sandy soil on fynbos mountain slopes, in Albany thicket and grassland near streams. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2010; www.plantzafrica.com; http://redlist.sanbi.org).