Geranium sylvaticum
Wood cranesbill
How do you recognise wood cranesbill?
An upright, branching herb 25–50 cm tall, covered all over in a soft down. The leaves are palmately divided with large teeth. The flowers are violet, rarely white, 15–35 mm across, and grow in pairs.
What is it confused with?
Bloody cranesbill has larger, purple-red flowers. Meadow cranesbill stays smaller and grows in drier, more open places.
Where does wood cranesbill grow, and when does it flower?
Grows in damp places such as groves, shore meadows, and ditch banks. Flowering falls in June and July.
Can you collect it for a herbarium?
Wood cranesbill is common, and one flowering shoot may be taken for a herbarium.
Did you know?
The seed pod is long and shaped like a crane’s bill, which is where the genus takes its name. A ripe pod snaps open and flings the seeds well clear of the parent plant.
Where does wood cranesbill grow in Finland?
The map shows where the species has been recorded. Darker squares mean more observations.
Loading the map
Observations: GBIF · Map: CARTO, OpenStreetMap
Sources: fi.wikipedia.org
Identify plants with your phone
Linnea identifies a plant from a photo and tells you its name and its story. Every find takes its own numbered place in your herbarium, with the day and the town where you found it.
