Tag Archives: crane’s bills

Crane’s-bill vs stork’s-bill

29 Sunday Oct 2023

Posted by in flowers, wildflowers

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It occurred to me today, after seeing both Common stork’s-bill (Erodium cicutarium) and Meadow crane’s-bill (Geranium pratense) still flowering locally, to wonder what the difference is between stork’s-bills and crane’s-bills. According to my Flora Britannica, it’s to do with the length of the birds’ bills, i.e. the seed cases of the stork’s-bills are longer than those of the crane’s-bills. The photos below show the relative differences, Meadow crane’s-bill above, Common stork’s-bill below.

231029 meadow crane's-bill vs common stork's-bill (1)

And because they both have lovely flowers, albeit of very different sizes (Common stork’s-bill is a tiny plant compared to Meadow crane’s bill), here they are, again Meadow crane’s-bill above, Common stork’s-bill below.

231029 meadow crane's-bill vs common stork's-bill (2)

Some crane’s bills

11 Friday May 2018

Posted by in flowers, nature, spring, wildflowers

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The word geranium comes from the Greek geranos, meaning crane, so named because of the likeness of the plant’s seed case to the bill of the bird. Thus, in the plant world, the crane’s-bills are the wild geraniums.

180511 round-leaved crane's-bill

’Tis the time the geraniums begin to bloom and I’m trying to learn which is which, so I thought I’d share a few I’ve found during recent perambulations. The first is the Round-leaved crane’s-bill (Geranium rotundifolium).

180511 herb robert

This next is the one most people can name. It seems to grow almost anywhere and makes even a rubbish heap look beautiful: Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum).

180511 shining crane's-bill

At a quick glance, this Shining crane’s-bill (Geranium lucidum) looks a lot like Herb Robert … and then you notice how different the leaves are.