Pelargonium quercifolium leaves and flowers

Called muishondbos (skunk bush), the Pelargonium quercifolium aroma is everything but attractive of flattering. Still, the flowers are pretty. The name P. quercifolium indicates a pelargonium with leaves similar to those of oak trees. That leaves much latitude as there are so many shapes of oak leaves.

The simple leaves are stalked. They are roughly hairy and deeply lobed with sticky blades and toothed margins. The leaves become about 8 cm long.

Up to six flowers grow in an umbel-shaped inflorescence on a short peduncle. The flowers in shades of pink to magenta are marked in white and red-purple on the upper petal pairs, white spots fringed with darker or fainter lines in somewhat repeated to variable pattern. The calyx tubes are about 1 cm long. Flower diameter is about 3 cm.

The plant is noted for resemblance to both P. glutinosum and P. panduriforme. It bears fewer flowers than these species per inflorescence and has harder leaves (Euston-Brown and Kruger, 2023; Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; iNaturalist; www.plantzafrica.com).