''Geranium robertianum'', commonly known as herb-Robert, or (in North America) Roberts geranium, is a common species of

cranesbill ''Geranium'' is a genus of 422 species of annual, biennial, and perennial plants that are commonly known as geraniums or cranesbills. They are found throughout the temperate regions of the world and the mountains of the tropics, but mostly in ...

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 Annual may refer to: * Annual publication, periodical publications appearing regularly once per year **Yearbook ** Literary annual * Annual plant * Annual report * Annual giving * Annual, Morocco, a settlement in northeastern Morocco * Annuals (b ...

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

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s (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 Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

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 ...

scree Scree is a collection of broken rock fragments at the base of a cliff or other steep rocky mass that has accumulated through periodic rockfall. Landforms associated with these materials are often called talus deposits. Talus deposits typically ha ...

and maritime shingle. It grows at altitudes from sea level to in

Teesdale Teesdale is a dale, or valley, in Northern England. The dale is in the River Tees’s drainage basin, most water flows stem from or converge into said river, including the Skerne and Leven. Upper Teesdale, more commonly just Teesdale, falls ...

, 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 Wound healing refers to a living organism's replacement of destroyed or damaged tissue by newly produced tissue. In undamaged skin, the epidermis (surface, epithelial layer) and dermis (deeper, connective layer) form a protective barrier agai ...

(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 ''Regimen sanitatis Salernitanum'', Latin: ''The Salernitan Rule of Health'' (commonly known as ''Flos medicinae'' or ''Lilium medicinae'' - ''The Flower of Medicine'', ''The Lily of Medicine'') is a medieval didactic poem in hexameter verse. It ...

''; or abbot and herbalist

Robert of Molesme Robert of Molesme (1028 – 17 April 1111) was an abbot, one of the founders of the Cistercian Order and is honored as a Christian saint. Life Robert was born about 1029 near Troyes, a younger son of Thierry and Ermengarde, nobles of Cham ...

. 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

mosquito Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning " gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "li ...

es. The active ingredients are

tannins Tannins (or tannoids) are a class of astringent, polyphenolic biomolecules that bind to and precipitate proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids. The term ''tannin'' (from Anglo-Norman ''tanner'', f ...

, a bitter compound called geraniin, and

essential oils An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile (easily evaporated at normal temperatures) chemical compounds from plants. Essential oils are also known as volatile oils, ethereal oils, aetheroleum, or simply as the o ...

. (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

* * *

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