Japanese name: ヒメフウロ（姫風露） Scientific name:Geranium robertianum
[Overview]
An annual or biennial 20–60 cm tall, growing in grasslands on limestone ground and at woodland edges.
The whole plant bears glandular hairs and has an unpleasant odor.
There are basal leaves and stem leaves; the basal leaves have withered by flowering time, or few remain.
The stem leaves are simple and alternate, broadly ovate to round and 2–7 cm wide, palmately divided into 3–5 lobes down to the base, and the lobes are further deeply pinnately divided.
Both surfaces of the leaves bear appressed hairs.
The petiole is 10 cm long.
The flowers are borne two at a time at the stem tips and branch tips; they are pale reddish purple, 5-petaled, and 1.5 cm across.
The fruit is a capsule.
[Uses]
The whole plant is used medicinally.
[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed.
It prefers a sunny to partially shaded site with soil that is well drained and retains moisture well.
If the conditions suit it, it grows well without much care.
For potted plants, water thoroughly when the soil surface dries; for plants in the ground, rainfall is sufficient.
If fertilizer is applied at planting, no further fertilizing is particularly needed.
There are no particular pests or diseases.
[Notes]
The alternative name Shioyaki-so (塩焼草, "salt-burning plant") compares the plant's unpleasant odor to the smell of burning salt.
