DRUCE'S CRANE'S-BILL

Geranium endressii x versicolor

Geranium x oxonianum

Crane's-bill (Geranium) Family [Geraniaceae]

month8may month8jun month8june month8jul month8july month8aug

status
statusZneophyte
flower
flower8pink
inner
inner8white
morph
morph8actino
petals
petalsZ5
stem
stem8round

13th May 2018, Cliff End, Royal Military Canal, Suffolk. Photo: © RWD
Only very few leaves in this photo are those belonging to the Geranium: those just left of dead centre. There are two specimens here; the one on the far left has not yet opened. (There are many leaves belonging to other plants here. Only the leaves which the as-yet unopened flowers partially hide are those of this plant. (The left hand flower hides part of a Hogweed leaf).


13th May 2018, Cliff End, Royal Military Canal, Suffolk. Photo: © RWD
The sepals are wide and with 3 darker parallel veins. There are 4(?) long thin bracts just below where the junction of the paired flowers.

Diagnostics: The petals have darker veins from the same pigment as the base colour. The petals are not supposed to curve outwards at the apex, trumpet like, but instead be funnel-shaped (however, other photos on other wild flower websites are just like these... curved!).
Diagnostics: The upper parts of the stem have short hairs (>0.5mm) sticking out radially. At least most flowers are in pairs and with 2 pedicels (the stalk of an individual flower) sharing a common single peduncle (the common stalk supporting both [all] peduncles)



13th May 2018, Cliff End, Royal Military Canal, Suffolk. Photo: © RWD
Another pair of flowers in the top half of the photo are not yet fully grown but still cupped within their sepals.

Diagnostic: fruit with style 3-4mm long (up to 5mm in some cases).



13th May 2018, Cliff End, Royal Military Canal, Suffolk. Photo: © RWD
Diagnostic: Petals usually mid-pink.


13th May 2018, Cliff End, Royal Military Canal, Suffolk. Photo: © RWD
The style in the centre of this flower has the 5 stigmas curled open revealing their pale fawn inside colour. Are there also 5 thin and antherless filaments too(?). This flower may be predominantly female.


13th May 2018, Cliff End, Royal Military Canal, Suffolk. Photo: © RWD
There should be two nested circles of 5 filaments each. The outer circle can have the anthers missing, whilst the inner circle of filaments have their bluish anthers intact. There is a central style here with 5 yellow stigmas still hugging the style.

Diagnostics: The petals are distinctly notched at the apex and shorter than 11mm long.



13th May 2018, Cliff End, Royal Military Canal, Suffolk. Photo: © RWD
Diagnostics: Any stalked glands are either of zero length (!) or less than 0.3mm long. The leaves are divided 3/4 to 7/8ths of the way to base and lack stalked glands.


27th July 2005, Horton in Ribblesdale, Yorkshire. Photo: © RWD
These much older digital photos do show the fruits. Digital cameras were still in their infancy when your Author bought this camera, colour fidelity was not one of their features. The small yellow flowers are those of Lady's Bedstraw.


27th July 2005, Horton in Ribblesdale, Yorkshire. Photo: © RWD
The veins are much more conspicuous than are those of Pencilled Crane's-bill.


27th July 2005, Horton in Ribblesdale, Yorkshire. Photo: © RWD


30th Aug 2014, Liverpool Loop Lines, Sefton. Photo: © RWD
The paired infloresscences dont emerge at the same time.


30th Aug 2014, Liverpool Loop Lines, Sefton. Photo: © RWD
This specimen has unusually narrow petals but abides by most of the other specifications for Druces' Cranesbill.


30th Aug 2014, Liverpool Loop Lines, Sefton. Photo: © RWD
The fruiting seed pod on the left is more developed than the one on the right.


30th Aug 2014, Liverpool Loop Lines, Sefton. Photo: © RWD
An as-yet unopened flower and a leaf.


30th Aug 2014, Liverpool Loop Lines, Sefton. Photo: © RWD
The leaves with a few flowers scattered about, as are a few seed pods.


30th Aug 2014, Liverpool Loop Lines, Sefton. Photo: © RWD
Leaves have 5 lobes (as do many other species of Crane's-bill, but some others have 7 lobed leaves - such as Himalayan Cranes's-bill (Geranium himalayense), Armenian Crane's-bill (Geranium psilostemon) and many others have leaves with a variable number of lobes such as the 5-9 lobes of Round-leaved Cranes's-bill (Geranium rutundiflorum) and of Wood Cranes's-bill (Geranium sylvaticum) and of Meadow Cranes's-bill (Geranium pratense), and the 5 to 7 lobes of Bloody Cranes's-bill (Geranium sanguinum), Long-stalked Cranes's-bill (Geranium columbinum), Cut-leaved Cranes's-bill (Geranium dissectum) etc and the 9 to 11 lobe leaves of Caucasian Cranes's-bill (Geranium ibericum). There are many others...


Easily mistaken for : French Crane's-bill (Geranium endressii) and Pencilled Crane's-bill (Geranium versicolor) simply because:

Druce's Cranesbill is the hybrid between French Crane's-bill (Geranium endressii) and Pencilled Crane's-bill (Geranium versicolor) and as such exhibits characteristics anywhere in-between the two parents.

The 'Diagnostics:' detail those characteristics which apply to this conforming to the specifications of Druce's Cranesbill. (I have not detailed those diagnostics relating to the fruit and mericarp, since there was only one flower there and it wasn't fruiting at the time the photos were taken.

Any other comments not highlighted as 'Diagnostics:' are my own comments.


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  Geranium x oxonianum  ⇐ Global Aspect ⇒ Geraniaceae  

Distribution
 family8Cranesbill (Geranium) family8Geraniaceae
 BSBI maps
genus8Geranium
Geranium
(Geranium)

DRUCE'S CRANE'S-BILL

Geranium endressii x versicolor

Geranium x oxonianum

Crane's-bill (Geranium) Family [Geraniaceae]