Pelargonium scabrum

Pelargonium scabrum, sometimes referred to as the sticky storksbill and in Afrikaans commonly the hoenderbos (chicken bush) or hoendervoetbos (chicken foot bush), is a hairy shrub that reaches 1,2 m in height.

The leaves are deeply lobed, pale to yellowish green and lemon-scented. Their margins and particularly the lobe tips are angularly toothed, the teeth and tips pointing forward and outwards; thought to resemble chicken feet.

The flowers are white or pale pink, blooming from late winter to the end of summer. The two upper petals are rounded and have small dark purple markings at the base. The lower three are narrowly oval and unmarked.

The species distribution is in the southwestern extreme of the Northern Cape in Namaqualand, the Western Cape along its broadly western and southern coastal regions to the west of the Eastern Cape. 

The plants grow on sandstone slopes and rocky, semi-arid land. The habitat population is deemed of least concern early in the twenty first century (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Manning, 2007; iNaturalist; www.plantzafrica.com; http://redlist.sanbi.org).