Pelargonium capitatum is one of several species (including Pelargonium graveolens

Pelargonium graveolens

Pelargonium graveolens is a species in the Pelargonium genus, which is indigenous to various parts of southern Africa, and in particular South Africa. It is often called geranium as it falls within the plant family Geraniaceae, although more correctly, it is referred to as Pelargonium. This...

) known as rose-scented pelargonium in English. The popular names refer to the scent of the essential oils extracted from glandular tissue, not the flowers, which have hardly any scent to speak of. Some of the species are known as kusmalva (meaning, roughly, "coastal geranium") in Afrikaans. It is found in fynbos

Fynbos

Fynbos is the natural shrubland or heathland vegetation occurring in a small belt of the Western Cape of South Africa, mainly in winter rainfall coastal and mountainous areas with a Mediterranean climate...

 along the coast of South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

, from Lamberts Bay

Lamberts Bay

Lamberts Bay is a small fishing town in the Western Cape province of South Africa situated 280 kilometres north of Cape Town. It is part of the Cederberg Municipality....

 east to Kwazulu-Natal

KwaZulu-Natal

KwaZulu-Natal is a province of South Africa. Prior to 1994, the territory now known as KwaZulu-Natal was made up of the province of Natal and the homeland of KwaZulu....

. It is a popular and convenient ornamental plant

Ornamental plant

Ornamental plants are plants that are grown for decorative purposes in gardens and landscape design projects, as house plants, for cut flowers and specimen display...

 and it also is one of the species of Pelargonium cultivated as a source of essential oils.

Pelargonium capitatum is a low shrub

Shrub

A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...

 up to about 100 cm (39 in) in height and 1.5 m across. The stems are soft and coated in green, glandular hairs. Brushing against a bush releases a copious scent of the essential oil from damaged hairs. The flowers range from white through various shades of pink to purple. Its preferred habitat is on sand dunes, but it is a fast grower on any reasonable base, including hard clayey soil, so it readily colonises disturbed habitat.

Pelargonium capitatum is one of a number of related plants that have become a major problem in coastal regions of southwest Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

, where it invades banksia woodland and coastal heathland.

Pelargonium capitatum is readily propagated from seed or cuttings, and grows best in well drained sandy soils.