Pelargonium zonale

Pelargonium zonale, commonly called the horseshoe geranium or zonal pelargonium, is a soft, woody shrub of up to 2 m that does not sprout after fire. Young stems are nearly succulent and hairy.

The leaves are rounded, shallowly lobed, the margins irregularly toothed. Pale green veins are prominent on the lower leaf surfaces, radiating from the leaf base and occasionally branching. The leaves are slightly hairy and exude a strong scent when crushed. Leaf size reaches 8 cm to 12 cm in diameter.

Halfway to the leaf centre the so-called zonal markings occur, nearly circular and usually faintly red but in picture quite dark. These markings form a curve on the leaf surface. The markings are here quite squiggly. The horseshoe pelargonium name is derived from the zonal curve is not closed, but somewhat U-shaped or horseshoe-like, open on the side of the petiole, the leaf stalk. Several other Pelargonium species, such as P. alchemilloides also have zonal markings that persist in some garden cultivars.

This species occurs on an east-west, coastal and inland strip in the Western Cape eastwards from around Piketberg to the Eastern Cape and southern KwaZulu-Natal.

The habitat is stony slopes in sandy or clayey soils, often in sheltered spots like forest margins and near watercourses. The habitat population is deemed of least concern early in the twenty first century (Euston-Brown and Kruger, 2023; Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Manning, 2009; iNaturalist; iSpot; http://redlist.sanbi.org).