Meadow Crane's-bill

Common Name: Meadow Crane’s-bill

Latin Name: Geranium pratense

Family: Geraniaceae

The crane’s-bill family (Geraniaceae) is named after the pointed seed cases which resemble the bill of the bird the crane

Meadow crane’s-bill is a large plant with a striking blue flower. The veins seen on the flower petals are guide-lines which direct pollinating insects to the nectar in the centre of the flower and thereby are an evolutionary adaptation to increase the chances of pollination. Due to their lavish colours and size geraniums are common garden plants. The cultivated variety called Johnson’s Blue has been bred from meadow crane’s-bill.

Despite its name which suggests otherwise, in the Yorkshire Dales National Park this plant is most frequently seen alongside road verges and in hedgerows at low altitudes. The plant can also be found in meadows, although it's relative the wood crane’s-bill (G. sylvaticum) is more characteristic of a species-rich Dales meadow.