Small-flowered Crane's-bill
Geranium pusillum
Found in roadsides, pastures, disturbed areas. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you
Not native to West Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 53%
- Light
- Partial shade, Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry to moist
No photograph yet. Looking for an old drawing…
At a glance
- Bloom
- April to September
Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Life cycle · Leaves
This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.
Recorded in 2 West Virginia counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Who uses this plant?
23CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including WV
Genus host records with ranges including WV · Geranium
- Anavitrinella pampinariaCommon Gray, Cranberry Spanworm
- Apamea devastatorGlassy Borer, Glassy Cutworm Moth
- Archips purpuranaOmnivorous Leafroller Moth
- Argyrotaenia velutinanaRed-Banded Leafroller Moth, Jack Pine Tube Moth
- Cenopis reticulatanaReticulated Fruitworm Moth
- Chloridea virescensTobacco Budworm Moth
- Choristoneura rosaceanaOblique-Banded Leafroller Moth, Rosaceous Leaf Roller
- Chrysodeixis includensSoybean Looper Moth
- Condica sutorThe Cobbler, Cobbler Groundling
- Helicoverpa zeaCorn Earworm Moth
Show all 23
- Hyphantria cuneaFall Webworm
- Lacinipolia loreaBridled Arches, Bridle Groundcat
- Megalographa bilobaBilobed Looper Moth
- Orgyia leucostigmaWhite-Marked Tussock Moth
- Prochoerodes lineolaLarge Maple Spanworm Moth
- Pyrrhia ciliscaAmerican Bordered Sallow, Noble Sun Moth
- Pyrrhia exprimensPurple-Lined Sallow, Purple-Lined Sun Moth
- Spargania magnoliataDouble-Banded Carpet
- Spilosoma virginicaVirginian Tiger Moth, Yellow Woolybear Moth, Yellow Bear
- Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
- Spodoptera ornithogalliYellow-Striped Armyworm Moth, Cotton Cutworm
- Trichoplusia niNi Moth, Cabbage Looper Moth
- Udea rubigalisCelery Leaftier
1Specialist beesPollen specialists
11BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Geranium
- Callipepla californicaCalifornia Quail
- Colinus virginianusNorthern Bobwhite
- Columbina passerinaCommon Ground Dove
- Haemorhous mexicanusHouse Finch
- Junco hyemalisDark-eyed Junco
- Melospiza melodiaSong Sparrow
- Melozone crissalisCalifornia Towhee
- Pheucticus melanocephalusBlack-headed Grosbeak
- Zenaida macrouraMourning Dove
- Zonotrichia atricapillaGolden-crowned Sparrow
Show all 11
- Zonotrichia leucophrysWhite-crowned Sparrow
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
Plant details
- Family
- Geraniaceae
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “April to September” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Light · “Partial shade; Full sun (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Soil · “Dry; Moist (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
Also known as
Small Cranes Bill; Small flowered Crane's bill
Conservation status
| West Virginia rank | SNA |
|---|---|
| Global rank | GNR |
| WV status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Native alternatives
Find natives for your gardenSources
- NatureServe Explorer
- USDA PLANTS
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition
- West Virginia occurrence source
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications

