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Meadow Geranium
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Meadow Geranium
P Native Photo: Thingnam Girija
Common name: Meadow Geranium, meadow crane's bill • Bhotia: pollo-mendok • Hindi: कशायमूल kashayamool • Kashmiri: gugchuk, karipat, ringresh • Kinnauri: likatur • Ladakhi: ག་དུར gadur, གུག་ཅུཀ་ gugchuk, स्प्रोलो sprolo • Lahauli: porlo • Nepali: राक्लामुल raklamool Source: Names of Plants in India
Botanical name: Geranium pratense    Family: Geraniaceae (Geranium family)
Synonyms: Geranium coelestinum, Geranium mariae, Geranium napellifolium

Meadow Geranium is a beautiful wildflower commonly found on open slopes in the Himalayas. It is easily confused with Himalayan Geranium. Erect hairy stems can grow to 25-150 cm tall. It is taller plant compared to Himalayan Geranium which can grow at the most to a foot tall. Flowers usually occur in pairs, 2.5-4 cm across, usually light bluish-purple, with darker veins. (Himalayan Geranium has larger flowers.) However, the color of the flower can vary from almost purplish red to blue to white. Sepals are about 1 cm long. Leaf-blade is 3-5 cm across, divided almost to the base into 5-7 ovate lobes, which is again one feature which distinguishes it from Himalayan Geranium. These lobes are further deeply cut into oblong acute toothed segments. Meadow Geranium is found in the Himalayas, from Kashmir to Nepal, at altitudes of 2200-3500 m. Flowering: July-August.

Identification credit: Tabish Photographed in Valley of Flowers, Uttarakhand.

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