# 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.

- **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.

## About

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.

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/c43f9f6e-d7bf-422a-936c-94ce412b19c4
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/55722
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geranium pratense
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/51448617/medium.jpeg (Stephen James McWilliam, CC0, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.