Wood Cranesbill

The Wood Cranesbill is species of geranium. The common houseplant that most people know as the Geranium is a relative, but is actually a Pelargonium. They all have long pointed seed pods that look somewhat like the long beak of a crane and give then their common name. It’s a Northern speciality and in the Dales we are close to its Southern limit. It’s most common at higher elevations, like Upper Swaledale, where this one was photographed. Even here it isn’t common. It has the largest flowers of our local geraniums and is a lovely plant, often grown in gardens. The Bloody Cranesbill has more dissected leaves and the flowers lack the pale centre.