Japanese name: ヤワゲフウロ（柔毛風露） Scientific name:Geranium molle
[Overview]
A biennial 5–30 cm tall, found along roadsides and similar places.
Soft hairs grow abundantly over the whole plant.
The stem branches well from the base.
The leaves are of two kinds, basal leaves and leaves alternate on the stem; the basal leaves and the lower stem leaves are round to kidney-round, 1–5 cm across, palmately divided into 5–9 lobes, with the lobes further shallowly cut, and have long petioles.
The upper stem leaves are stalkless and divided to the base into 3–5 lobes.
An inflorescence emerges opposite a leaf and bears pale reddish-purple 5-petaled flowers, 0.5–1 cm across, two at a time.
The petals are shallowly 2-lobed.
The surface of the fruit is hairless and has 6–9 transverse wrinkles.
The seeds are smooth.
[History]
It was first recorded in 1976 in Muroran, Hokkaido, and has since become naturalized in many places.
