Meadow Crane's-bill
Geranium pratense
The common name 'crane's-bill' comes from the fruit's distinctive beak-like shape, which acts as a spring-loaded catapult to fling seeds up to several meters away when dry.
- Scientific name
- Geranium pratense
- Taxonomy
- Plantae › Tracheophyta › Magnoliopsida › Geraniales › Geraniaceae › Geranium
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- stable
- Biome
- grassland
- Habitat
- Moist grasslands, meadows, pastures, roadsides, and open chalk downs.
- Diet
- Autotrophic (photosynthesis, absorbing water and mineral nutrients from soil).
- Range
- Europe, Temperate Asia, North America
- Size
- 30 to 100 cm in height, forming clumps up to 60 cm wide.
- Lifespan
- Perennial (typically 3 to 8 years)
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Habitat loss due to intensive agricultural grazing, early mowing of roadside verges, and urban development.
- Safe to approach?
- Harmless. Safe to touch and admire from any distance. Ensure you do not trample wild populations. While non-toxic to humans, it is best left unpicked so pollinators can feed.
Geranium pratense , the meadow crane's-bill or meadow geranium , is a species of hardy flowering herbaceous perennial plant in the genus Geranium and family Geraniaceae.
Photo: Stephen James McWilliam, CC0, via iNaturalist
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