Stems: erect, much branched from the base. Leaves: petioled, reni-form-orbicular in outline, deeply cleft into five to nine oblong, cuneate, lobed segments. Flowers: in compact clusters; petals pink, obcordate, equalling the awned sepals.

This wild Geranium is very like the Herb Robert, and has the same dull pink flowers veined with deep rose. The Greek name of the plant means "a crane," and the common name Crane's Bill denotes the long grooved beak composed of five styles that cohere at the top. The calyx is formed of five pointed sepals, and the corolla of five indented petals. The whole plant is covered with fine gray hairs and has an extremely strong smell, caused by a resinous secretion. Its leaves are roundish in form and deeply cleft; the long stalks are brittle and quite red where exposed to the sunlight. Sometimes the flowers are white.

Geranium Bicknellii, or Bicknell's Geranium, resembles the preceding species, but is a taller, more slender plant. The leaves are angulate in outline, the segments being narrowly oblong and deeply cleft. The pale pinkish flowers grow in loose clusters, and the beaks are not so long-pointed as those of the Carolina Crane's Bill.