Geraniaceae

Crane's-bills and stork's-bills

From Streeter et al., 2016, 'Family Key':

"Sepals 5; petals 5; stamens 10; flowers pink, blue or purple; leaves palmate or pinnate".

The description further states: "ovary superior with 5 cells, each of which is elongated into a beak".

For the specimen(s) below, hover over image in gallery for description and select for a full screen preview.

ID: 018

Date: 30 Apr 2024

Locality: Page Hill, Buckingham

Location (Lat/Long): 52.00241, -0.97302

Landscape/habitat: To the side of a footpath in an alleyway. Large patches.

Identification notes: I had to check as this could have been Little-Robin (G. purpureum) but the anthers looked a different colour and the leaves looked more like the illustration (with a red tinge to the edges).

From Streeter et al. (2016, p.334) description of characters, with my observations:

• Stems often reddish (yes, stems are red, see 1st image in gallery)

• Leaves bright dark green (2nd image, also with a red tinge to edges as per the illustration in the book)

• Anthers purple (3rd image)

Name: Herb-Robert, Geranium robertianum

References

Streeter, D., Hart-Davies, C., Hardcastle, A., Cole, F. and Harper, L. (2016) Collins wild flower guide. Revised and updated 2nd edition. edn. London: William Collins.