Crane's-bill (Geranium) Family [Geraniaceae] |
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flower
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morph
petals
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13th July 2011, Blackleach, Walkden, Manchester. | Photo: © RWD |
A perennial flower which grows to 60cm high (1m at extreme). |
13th July 2011, Blackleach, Walkden, Manchester. | Photo: © RWD |
The leaves are between 7 and 15mm across with 7 to 9 lobes, each lobe being cut into several long tapering teeth from half-way to the end. |
25th June 2004, Grindleford, Derbyshire. | Photo: © RWD |
The flowers are a violet-blue with 5 petals rounded at the end. |
22nd June 2007, Loop Lines, Walkden. | Photo: © RWD |
Some of the spent flowers have started to grow a long, green, tubular beak, with the style and stigma at the end (top left) whilst others have yet to open (top right). Both droop. |
13th July 2011, Blackleach, Walkden, Manchester. | Photo: © RWD |
The two flower buds on the centre right are yet to open whilst those on the left are turning to seed with their extending beaks. There is a smaller leaf just below the inflorescence which is deeply cut into 7 shortish toothed leaflets. The flower at the top has only 5 (out of its 10 stamens) which have a T-bar anther atop. The flowers, like the fruits or buds, are always in pairs. |
5th August 2004, Grange Over Sands, Cumbria. | Photo: © RWD |
This specimen has an anther, which are indigo in colour, on all 10 of its filaments. |
22nd June 2007, Loop Lines, Walkden. | Photo: © RWD |
The flowers have pale translucent branched veins. |
13th July 2011, Blackleach, Walkden, Manchester. | Photo: © RWD |
There are 5 sepals each with a long thin spike at the tip. Two sepals are wider than the other 3. There are 3 red, long and tapering |
13th July 2011, Blackleach, Walkden, Manchester. | Photo: © RWD |
The fruits are on paired stalks which are bent at about 90°. The end of the fruits retains the long style (with its short discoidal stigma for a while before that withers). All covered in short hairs. |
13th July 2011, Blackleach, Walkden, Manchester. | Photo: © RWD |
The sepals are not all the same width. Some of the dense glandular hairs also look reddish here. |
13th July 2011, Blackleach, Walkden, Manchester. | Photo: © RWD |
Several stigmas are peeping out of this as-yet unopened flower, some with indigo coloured T-bar anthers, some without (probably a 5 / 5 split between filaments with anthers and those without. |
13th July 2011, Blackleach, Walkden, Manchester. | Photo: © RWD |
The stems are often reddish. The edges of the leaves are also reddish on this specimen. |
13th July 2011, Blackleach, Walkden, Manchester. | Photo: © RWD |
Meadow Crane's-bill often has glandular hairs over most of the plant. |
22nd June 2007, Loop Lines, Walkden. | Photo: © RWD |
The leaves are between 4 to 8cm across. These are closer to the ground and large than those leaves higher up the stem. |
14th July 2007, Walkden. | Photo: © RWD |
The leaves have between 7 and 9 lobes; here 7, which are cut almost to their bases (greater than 6/7th of the way to the base). |
Some similarities: The leaves have a distinct resemblance to those of Monk's-hood except that in the case of Meadow Crane's-bill the extent of a leaf is nearly circular; however the jizz of the plant and flower are totally different and the one cannot be mistaken for the other. More likely to be found a an escapee from gardens. There are numerous varieties of cultivars that may escape, the most frequent being that of Purple Crane's-bill It is native and is to be found in Meadows, open woodlands, permanent pastures, beside roads and lowland hay meadows growing in calcareous or base-rich soils to an altitude of about 550 metres. Elsewhere it is commonly cultivated and widely naturalised beyond its native range described earlier.
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Geranium | pratense | ⇐ Global Aspect ⇒ | Geraniaceae |
Geranium (Crane's-bills) |
Crane's-bill (Geranium) Family [Geraniaceae] |