Spreading, weakly upright subshrub to 1 m tall. Leaves velvety-surfaced, 3-5-lobed, to about 7 cm wide, rose-scented, margin crinkled. Flower clusters of 8-20 flowers, dense and compact. Flowers mostly mauvish, the 2 upper petals darkveined; spring to summer.
S Africa
This is a Scented-leaf Pelargonium.
Grown commercially for Oil of Geranium.
Introduced early in Australian colonisation and naturalised, mostly in coastal areas of NSW, Vic, Tas and WA.
Source: (2002). Pelargonium. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 4. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 3. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
Pelargonium capitatum 'Attar Of Roses'
More upright plant than the species and with more strongly scented and deeply lobed leaves. Probably a hybrid with p. capitata the major parent. Known since 1900.