Cambridge Encyclopedia :: Cambridge Encyclopedia Vol. 18

cranesbill

An annual or perennial of the genus Geranium, native to temperate regions; leaves with lobes radiating from central point; flowers usually white to purple or blue, 5-petalled; fruit with long beak resembling a bird's bill, exploding when ripe, the beak of each seed rolling up and flicking seed away; many of the so-called geraniums of horticulture belong to the genus Pelargonium. (Genus: Geranium, 400 species. Family: Geraniaceae.)

iCranesbills

Geranium sylvaticum
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Geraniales
Family: Geraniaceae
Genus: Geranium
L., 1753
Species

See list.

Cranesbills are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Brown-tail and Mouse Moth.

Gallery

Geranium platypetalum

Geranium sanguineum

Johnson's Blue, garden hybrid of Geranium pratense

Flower and seed-head of Herb Robert
(Geranium robertianum)

Geranium maderense

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Geraniaceae

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