Meadow Crane's-bill
Meadow Crane's-bill - Geranium pratense
Medium to tall, tufted and hairy plant with erect stems and deeply divided leaves. Flowers bright violet blue, 25 to 30 mm petals rounded, fruits hairy.
Several other blue-flowered species, hybrids and cultivars are grown in gardens, and may persist if thrown out
Roadside verges and hedgebanks.
June to September.
Perennial.
Widespread but local in Britain becoming scarcer in northern Scotland.
Fairly frequent but localised in Leicestershire and Rutland. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 254 of the 617 tetrads.
David Gould
Narborough Bog
01 July 2014
granniejo
Billesdon woodland pool
05 June 2021
David Nicholls
Bagworth Heath
28 June 2014
David Nicholls
Launde Fish Ponds
22 September 2012
David Nicholls
Burbage Common
01 July 2011
David Gould
Aylestone Meadows, Leicester.
05 July 2015
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Additional images
 Fosse Meadows (Taken 17.9.2008).JPG)
 B4669 past Stanton Turn Sapcote SP 4705 9380 (taken 24.7.2008)..JPG)
All NatureSpot records
Agromyza nigrescens
The larva of the Agromyzid fly Agromyza nigrescens mines the leaves of Geranium and Erodium species. The start of the mine is corridor-like and usually follows the leaf margin, before widening considerably into a secondary blotch, with irregular sides. Primary and secondary feeding lines are clearly visible and frass is mostly in large clumps.
Aceria geranii
The mite Aceria geranii causes galls on the leaves of Geranium species. The leaves are paler than usual, thickened and rolled into a mophead at the shoot tip. The mites live inside the leaves, and are minute, whitish and worm-like; they cannot be seen with the naked eye but are just discernible using a stereo microscope.
Uromyces geranii
Uromyces geranii is a rust fungus that galls the leaves of various Geranium and Erodium species (Crane's-bills and Stork's-bills); there is no host-plant alternation. Aecia are orange, on leaf undersides and petiole; later pale brown uredinia and darker telia appear on the leaf underside.
Meadow Cranesbill Weevil
Look for this small (3mm) black weevil on Meadow Crane's-bill and Bloody Crane's-bill. It has pale sides and a warty appearance on the elytra.