''Geranium robertianum'', commonly known as herb-Robert, or (in North America) Roberts geranium, is a common species of cranesbill native to Europe and parts of Asia, and North Africa. The plant has many vernacular names, including red robin, death come quickly, fox geranium, stinking Bob, squinter-pip (Shropshire) and crow's foot.

Description

It grows as a procumbent (prostrate or trailing) to erect annual or

biennial plant A biennial plant is a flowering plant that, generally in a temperate climate, takes two years to complete its biological life cycle. Life cycle In its first year, the biennal plant undergoes primary growth, during which its vegetative structures ...

, up to fifty centimetres high, producing small, pink, five-petalled flowers (8–14 mm in diameter) from April until the autumn. The leaves are deeply dissected, ternate to palmate, the stems reddish and prominently hairy; the leaves also turn red at the end of the flowering season.

Distribution

Its main area of distribution is Europe from the north Mediterranean coast to the Baltic and from the British Isles in the west to the Caucasus in the east, and eastern North America. In western North America, it has escaped from cultivation and is regarded as an

invasive species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species ad ...

. ''Geranium robertianum'' is common throughout Great Britain and Ireland in woodland,

hedgerow A hedge or hedgerow is a line of closely spaced shrubs and sometimes trees, planted and trained to form a barrier or to mark the boundary of an area, such as between neighbouring properties. Hedges that are used to separate a road from adjoini ...

s, scree and maritime shingle. It grows at altitudes from sea level to in Teesdale, England and above in parts of mainland Europe on calcareous alpine screes.

Uses

Herb Robert has been used in the folk medicine of several countries, including as a treatment for diarrhea, to improve functioning of the liver and gallbladder, for toothache and nosebleeds, and as a vulnerary (used for or useful in healing wounds). Its common name has several possible sources: the Latin word for red, ''ruber''; Shakespearean character Robin Goodfellow, the mischievous hobgoblin in ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''; an early duke of Normandy named Robert who is rumored to have commissioned the '' Regimen sanitatis Salernitanum''; or abbot and herbalist Robert of Molesme. Freshly picked leaves have an odor resembling burning tires when crushed, and if they are rubbed on the body the smell is said to repel mosquitoes. The active ingredients are tannins, a bitter compound called

geraniin Geraniin is a dehydroellagitannin found in geraniums. It is found for instance in ''Geranium thunbergii'', which is one of the most popular folk medicines and also an official antidiarrheic drug in Japan. It can also be found in the rind of ''Neph ...

, and essential oils. (MHNT) Geranium robertianum - Leafs and buds.jpg, Typical leaf structure (MHNT) Geranium robertianum - buds.jpg, Flower buds (MHNT) Geranium robertianum - fruit.jpg, fruits (MHNT) Geranium robertianum - blossom and bud.jpg, Blossom and bud

References

Bibliography

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External links

Images at Bioimages (UK)Species treatment from the Jepson ManualEntry in the Plants for a Future database
{{Taxonbar, from=Q160096 robertianum Flora of Western Asia Flora of North Africa Flora of Palestine (region) Medicinal plants of Africa Medicinal plants of Asia Medicinal plants of Europe Garden plants of Europe Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Flora of Saint Pierre and Miquelon