A perennial, found occasionally by the roadside and usually not too far from gardens, this is such a pretty flower. Firstly there are the slightly funnel-shaped flowers (18-25 mm) which have five pink petals, each covered with a wonderful tracery of purple lines. These lead towards the lighter-coloured centre of the flower where the anthers are tipped purple. Each petal has a shallow cleft at its outward edge. Then there are the leaves which are five-lobed, palmate and deeply veined. A slightly hairy plant, it is quite erect, reaching to 60 cm on some hedges. Not a native but a garden escape, it blooms from May to September and belongs to the family Geraniaceae.
I first recorded and photographed this plant growing in Ambrosetown, Co Wexford in 2010 and am grateful to Paul Green, BSBI Vice-county Recorder for Wexford and Waterford, for his help in identifying it.
If you are satisfied you have correctly identified this plant, please submit your sighting to the National Biodiversity Data Centre
