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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Species profile
- Common names
- Meadow Crane's-bill
- Species group:
- Wildflowers
- Kingdom:
- Plantae
- Order:
- Geraniales
- Family:
- Geraniaceae
- Records on NatureSpot:
- 321
- First record:
- 01/07/1998 (John Mousley)
- Last record:
- 06/11/2025 (HUGHES, NEIL)
Total records by month
% of records within its species group
10km squares with records
The latest images and records displayed below include those awaiting verification checks so we cannot guarantee that every identification is correct. Once accepted, the record displays a green tick.
In the Latest Records section, click on the header to sort A-Z, and again to sort Z-A. Use the header boxes to filter the list.
Latest images
Latest records
 Fosse Meadows (Taken 17.9.2008).JPG)
Graham Calow
Fosse Meadows, Sharnford
17 September 2008
HAPeacock
River Soar - St Marys Mill
12 July 2012
David Gould
Aylestone Meadows, Leicester.
27 June 2015
Paul Ruddoch
Rhubarb Island
20 June 2015
Graham Calow
Fosse Meadows, Sharnford
03 August 2014
Graham Calow
Fosse Meadows, Sharnford
21 May 2014
David Nicholls
Nature Alive, Coalville
12 July 2012 B4669 past Stanton Turn Sapcote SP 4705 9380 (taken 24.7.2008)..JPG)
Graham Calow
Sapcote
24 July 2008
Graham Calow
Fosse Meadows, Sharnford
06 June 2011
David Gould
Aylestone Meadows
04 September 2014
David Gould
Aylestone Meadows, Leicester.
18 June 2016
white form
Graham Calow
Croft Hill
11 June 2011
Graham Calow
Jubilee Walk Leire
25 June 2012
Graham Calow
Jubilee Walk Leire
21 August 2012
Graham Calow
Jubilee Walk, Leire
02 August 2011
HAPeacock
River Soar - St Marys Mill
25 May 2012
HAPeacock
River Soar - St Marys Mill
14 June 2012
Alan Semper
Eastwell, Waltham La verge
05 July 2012
David Gould
Aylestone Meadows
15 August 2014
HAPeacock
River Soar - St Marys Mill
12 July 2012
HAPeacock
River Soar - St Marys Mill
12 July 2012
David Nicholls
Launde Fish Ponds
22 September 2012
David Nicholls
Narborough Bog NR
13 October 2012
David Nicholls
Fosse Meadows
21 May 2014
David Nicholls
Watermead Country Park
27 September 2013
David Gould
Narborough Bog
01 July 2014
David Gould
Narborough Bog
01 July 2014
David Gould
The Spearwort Fields
06 July 2014
 Fosse Meadows (Taken 17.9.2008).JPG)
 B4669 past Stanton Turn Sapcote SP 4705 9380 (taken 24.7.2008)..JPG)
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.