Wild flower ID, please

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gogleddwr

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Howard
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I'm trying to get the ID of a wild, I think, flower and have tried all the books I have and asked my neighbours but to no avail. I know there is an ID thread for macro and close-up but not for wild flowers. So, mods please forgive me if this is in the wrong place.

Can someone put me out of my misery and tell what this is -

what_is_it_s.jpgwhat_is_it_s.jpg

It is growing by the side of a country road in quite damp conditions, it's quite small about the size of a daisy. There are two small clumps of it with 6 or 7 flowers in each and it has only just appeared this summer.

Is is possibly an escapee from a garden and therefore not really wild?

Help!

Thanks in advance.

Howard
 
Tom Pinchenzo said:
Looks like a cranesbill or storksbill - something in the geranium family. Got any photos of the leaves?
Click to expand...

Brilliant, thanks Tom.

Here is a, poor, image, of the leaves.

whats_it_leaves_s.jpg

I've done a google and I think they look like this

Hardy Geranium 'Tiny Monster' Cranesbill | YouGarden

Geranium sanguineum, the hardy geranium or Cranesbill, is a clump-forming perennial growing to around 2cm (8in) tall, with spreading roots that
www.yougarden.com www.yougarden.com

a flower I'd never heard of. This is truly an educational forum.

Thanks very much,

Howard
 
It's Hedge Cranesbill.
There are various kinds of Cranesbill some larger than this, plus the cultivated variants which are robust enough to compete in the wild if someone has planted them or thrown out garden waste.
This looks like the native one though.
 
@4wd -Thanks for your reply.Is it possible to distinguish between native and garden waste? As I said in my first post I hadn't seen anything like this in that particular area, also people have bee known to dump garden waste there.

I know it's illegal to pick wild flowers, and I wouldn't dream of doing so, but do you know the legality of picking something from dumped garden waste.

Thanks,

Howard
 
The location might give a clue if it's at a layby or farm gate for example.
There's a constant stream of accidental and deliberate introductions some can become a problem.
I'm reminded of an innocuous little pink flower called American Willowherb which is a serious fast growing annual weed in our garen since it arrived from some garden centre presumably. Then there are more thuggish plants like Giant Hogweed and Himalayan Balsam originally grown as ornamentals have gone on to dominate large areas smpthering out true natives.

The Cranesbill genre will have a lot of subtle variations in colour, flower size and flowering period which breeders bring out to make a more appealing garden version.
As for picking well obviously best not to but for a photo a small sprig of a common plant is no big deal whereas picking something like an orchid would be mildly outrageous even if they were locally numerous.
A lot of wild flowers are tougher than you'd think and for example get mown in hay or grazed by livestock anyway - and if that didn't happen the area would usually degenerate into a weedy mess.
 
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My Plant ID app says Hedgerow Cranesbill Geranium pyrenaicum
 
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