Pelargonium ribifolium

Pelargonium ribifolium is a single-stemmed, soft shrub that reaches heights from 1,2 m to 2 m.

The angularly three-lobed and unevenly toothed leaves have long, straight petioles and small stipules. The blades are fresh green to bright green and hairy, sometimes sticky from some of the hairs being glandular. The leaves are about 6 cm long and as wide.

Three straight veins emerge from the leaf base into the lobes with several lateral veins of variable size and length. The veins are sunken on the upper surfaces, prominent below. The leaf scent is intense when the leaves are crushed.

The species distribution is in the Western Cape from the east of the Little Karoo, particularly the Swartberg Mountains to the Eastern Cape as far as Gqeberha. The photo was taken on Minwater farm near Oudtshoorn.

The habitat is moist kloofs and slopes, as well as along watercourses among shrub vegetation in sandy soil. The species is not considered threatened in habitat early in the twenty first century (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).