Back
Cranesbill family (Geraniaceae)
Very hairy annual/biennial of strong (for some unpleasant) aroma. Stem – often reddish – rises10-50 cm. Leaves long-stalked, palmate, deeply dissected into 3-5 sections. Flowers in twos, 12-16 mm in diameter. Sepals end in spines, while petals are pink in colour, ovate and 3-10 mm long. Flowers may-Sep.
Grows on mesic or moist fertile or semi-fertile soils. A shade-tolerant species present in riparian forests and alder carr, but also in waysides and on waste ground. Folk-medicine application in diseases of the skin and urinary system.
Descriptions devised by the team at the Independent Department of Forest Botany, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, i.e. L. Witkowska-Żuk, K. Marciszewska, W. Ciurzycki, A. Obidziński and P. Zaniewski
