Family: cranesbills (Geraniaceae)
Flowering time: May–August
Size: 30–60 cm
Habitat: moist meadows, tall-stemmed vegetation, shrubby areas and forest edges
Brown-crimson cranesbill (Geranium phaeum) is a herbaceous perennial with a strong rhizome. Its upright stem is conspicuously long-haired. It is leafed with large, 5 to 10 cm wide leaves, alternately arranged, which are divided halfway into seven lobes. From other cranesbills it can be reliably distinguished by its dark violet to brown-crimson flowers. Its broad petals are at the tips distinctly pointed, 10 to 12 mm long and considerably longer than the sepals. The corolla of the brown-crimson cranesbill is wheel-shaped and spread out, or even slightly reflexed backward.
Brown-crimson cranesbill grows on fresh nitrogen-rich soils. In the Littoral, in the Julian Alps and in the Slovenian part of the Dinaric Mountain Range it is fairly rare, whereas in the rest of Slovenia it is widespread and common.
The brown-crimson cranesbill has also been used in folk medicine, namely to relieve digestive problems, circulatory issues and depression.
