geranium sanguineum
{{short description|Species of flowering plant in the family Geraniaceae}}
{{speciesbox
|image = 2012-07-03 Bloody Crane's-bill, Hauxley, Northumberland 1.jpg
|image_caption = Geranium sanguineum on the Northumberland coast
|genus = Geranium
|species = sanguineum
|authority = L.
|synonyms = *Geranium grandiflorum Gilib.
- Geranium lancastriense Miller (1768)
- Geranium lancastriense With.
- Geranium prostratum Cav. (1787)
- Geranium sanguineiforme (Rouy) A. W. Hill
}}
Geranium sanguineum, common name bloody crane's-bill{{cite web |title=Bloody Crane's-bill Geranium sanguineum L. |work=BSBI Online Plant Atlas 2020 |editor1=P.A. Stroh |editor2=T. A. Humphrey |editor3=R.J. Burkmar |editor4=O.L. Pescott |editor5=D.B. Roy |editor6=K.J. Walker |publisher=Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland |date=2020 |url=https://plantatlas2020.org/atlas/2cd4p9h.xxz |access-date=22 June 2024 }}{{BSBI 2007|accessdate=2014-10-17}} or bloody geranium, is a species of hardy flowering herbaceous perennial plant in the cranesbill family Geraniaceae.{{GRIN | accessdate=15 July 2013}} It is the county flower of Northumberland.{{Cite web|title = Bloody crane's-bill {{!}} Plant & fungi species {{!}} Wild plants|url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160707153412/http://www.plantlife.org.uk/wild_plants/plant_species/bloody_cranes-bill/|website = www.plantlife.org.uk|accessdate = 2016-01-03}}
Etymology
The genus name is derived from the Greek γέρανος ("géranos"), meaning crane, with reference to the fruit capsule resembling the bird's bill. The specific Latin name sanguineum means 'blood-red'; Linnaeus cites Gaspard Bauhin's 1623 book Pinax theatri botanici as his source for the name, which in turn refers ("sanguinaria radix") to a blood-red root.{{cite book |last1=Bauhin |first1=Gaspard |title=Pinax theatri botanici |date=1623 |publisher=Basileae Helvet. |page=318 |url=https://bibdigital.rjb.csic.es/viewer/10754/?offset=#page=342&viewer=picture&o=ocr&n=0&q=}}
Description
Geranium sanguineum has a hemicryptophyte plant life-form, with its overwintering buds situated just below the soil surface, and the floral axis more or less erect with a few leaves. It has a thick rhizome. The stems are prostrate to ascending, well developed, much branched, and hairy. It reaches on average {{convert|30|-|50|cm}} in height.Pignatti S. - Flora d'Italia – Edagricole – 1982. Vol. II, pag. 6 The petiolate leaves have five lobes (or segments), each segment is tripartite with large teeth. The flowers are produced singly (not in clusters, as in many other Geranium species), 2.5–4 cm diameter, with petals 12–18 mm wide, and are bright crimson.Streeter D, Hart-Davies C, Hardcastle A, Cole F, Harper L. 2009. Collins Flower Guide. Harper Collins {{ISBN|9-78-000718389-0}} The flowering period extends from May to October. The flowers are hermaphrodite and pollinated by insects (entomophily). The most common flower visitors are Syrphidae and Hymenoptera, but also butterflies and Coleoptera. The fruit is a schizocarp that breaks up into five mericarps when ripe.
Distribution
Geranium sanguineum is native to most of temperate to subarctic Europe and western Asia.{{Cite POWO |last1=POWO |author-link1=Plants of the World Online |id=322494-2 |title=Geranium sanguineum L. |access-date=22 June 2024 }} It is also frequent as a garden escape away from native sites.
Habitat
It typically occurs in grassland, being particularly abundant on coastal sand dunes,{{cite book |last1=Swan |first1=George A. |title=Flora of Northumberland |date=1993 |publisher=Natural History Society of Northumbria |location=Hancock Museum |isbn=0 9520782 0 1 |page=161 }} but also in open woodland on calcareous soils, including rocky slopes. It prefers a neutral pH, with low nutritional value, at altitudes from {{convert|0|to|1200|m}} above sea level.
Cultivation
It is cultivated as a garden subject, and a number of different cultivars exist. The following cultivars have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:{{cite web | url= https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/pdfs/agm-lists/agm-ornamentals.pdf | title = AGM Plants - Ornamental | date = July 2017 | page = 42 | publisher = Royal Horticultural Society | accessdate = 1 March 2018}}
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- 'Album'{{cite web|title=RHS Plant Selector - Geranium sanguineum 'Album'|url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/92120/Geranium-sanguineum-Album/Details| accessdate = 5 July 2020}}
- 'Ankum's Pride'{{cite web|title=RHS Plant Selector - Geranium sanguineum 'Ankum's Pride'|url= https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/68904/Geranium-sanguineum-Ankum-s-Pride/Details | accessdate = 5 July 2020}}
- ’Aviemore’{{cite web | url = https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/136944/Geranium-sanguineum-Aviemore/Details
| title = RHS Plantfinder - Geranium sanguineum 'Aviemore' | accessdate = 27 February 2018}}
- 'Little Bead'{{cite web | url = https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/194427/i-Geranium-sanguineum-i-Little-Bead/Details
| title = RHS Plantfinder - Geranium sanguineum 'Little Bead' | accessdate = 27 February 2018}}
- 'Shepherd's Warning'{{cite web|title=RHS Plant Selector - Geranium sanguineum 'Shepherd's Warning'|url= https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/97850/Geranium-sanguineum-Shepherd-s-Warning/Details | accessdate = 5 July 2020}}
- G. sanguineum var. striatum{{cite web|title=RHS Plant Selector - Geranium sanguineum var. striatum|url= https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/89025/Geranium-sanguineum-var-striatum/Details | accessdate = 5 July 2020}}
- Geranium sanguineum var. striatum 'Splendens' {{cite web | url = https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/84335/Geranium-sanguineum-var-striatum-Splendens/Details | title = Geranium sanguineum var. striatum 'Splendens' | publisher = RHS | accessdate = 13 July 2020}}
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Gallery
File:(MHNT) Geranium sanguineum - Flower and leaf - Les Martels, Giroussens Tarn.jpg
File:Geraniaceae - Geranium sanguineum.JPG
File:Geraniaceae - Geranium sanguineum-2.JPG
File:Geraniaceae - Geranium sanguineum-1.JPG
File:Geraniaceae - Geranium sanguineum-4.JPG
File:Geranium sanguineum02.jpg|Fruits showing mericarps
File:Geraniaceae - Geranium sanguineum-3.JPG
File:Geraniumsangred2.jpg|Autumn leaves
image:0 Geranium sanguineum 'Striatum'- Samoëns.JPG|'Striatum'
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Commons category|Geranium sanguineum}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q158387}}