Geraniaceae

Geraniaceae
Common red garden geranium
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Geraniales Family: Geraniacae
Genera
Erodium Geranium Hypseocharis Monsonia Pelargonium Rhynchotheca Sarcocaulon

The Geraniaceae are a family of flowering plants. It includes both the genus Geranium (the cranesbills), and the garden plants called geraniums, which modern botany classifies as genus Pelargonium, along with other similar genera.

There are around 750 species in the family, distributed in from 7 to 14 genera; the list of genera in the table at the right comes from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew database. Numerically, the most important genera are Geranium, Pelargonium and Erodium. Most species are found in temperate or warm temperate regions, especially southern Africa, though some are tropical. They may grow as annuals or perennial plants. The larger ones have woody stems; most have hairy stems. The flowers have five petals, and are bisexual.

A distinction can be drawn between genus Hypseocharis, with between one and three species, which comes from the south-west Andean region of South America, and the rest of the family. Some authors separate Hyspeocharis as a monogenic family Hypseocharitaceae, while older sources placed it in the Oxalidaceae.