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Wood Crane's-Bill
Geranium sylvaticum
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Wood Crane’s-Bill is a medium-sized wild geranium of woods and meadows. It bears five-petalled purple to white flowers in early summer. You’ll see it in light, moist forests, forest edges, stream banks and roadside verges across much of Europe and into northern Asia.
Did you know?
- The name “crane’s‑bill” comes from the long beak-like fruit that curls back and catapults the seeds.
- Flowers are usually purple but can also be white.
About the species
Identification
Erect, branching plant 25–50 cm tall with hairy stems. Leaves are roundish but deeply cut into 5–7 finger-like segments with big teeth; lower leaves have long stalks, upper leaves are smaller and less divided. Flowers grow in pairs on upright stalks, each 1.5–3.5 cm across with five broad petals, usually purple but sometimes white. After flowering it makes a slender column topped by a long “beak” that dries and curls back, flicking the seeds. Paired purple flowers and the round, deeply cut leaves help tell it from other wild geraniums. Flowers in Finland in June–July.
Plant group
Herbaceous plants
Habitat
herb-rich forest
Flowering
Jun–Jul
About the habitat
Prefers rich or moist ground: leafy woods, forest edges, streamside thickets, fresh meadows and road verges. Common throughout the country.
Sources
Photo: Krzysztof Golik, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Geranium sylvaticum at Lac de Mines d'Or (6).jpg
Text: Pinkka: Yläkoulun Pinkka - Lehto, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39138
Text: Pinkka: BIO-503 Suomen kasvisto ja kasvillisuus - Tunturit: tunturikoivikot, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39138
Text: Pinkka: BIO-503 Suomen kasvisto ja kasvillisuus - Tunturit: tunturiniityt, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39138
Text: Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mets%C3%A4kurjenpolvi
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