The family name is derived from the genus Geranium, (the cranesbills). Along with other related genera, the family also includes the garden plants called geraniums, which modern botany confusingly classifies as genus Pelargonium.
Leaves are usually lobed or otherwise sub-divided, usually hairy and containing ethereal oils that are released when the leaf is crushed.
The flowers are radially symmetrical, (as in Geranium) or with a slight bilateral symmetry, (as in Pelargonium). The calyx (sepals) and the corolla (petals) are both pentamerous (in fives), petals are free while sepals are united at the base.
The fruit is a unique capsule made of five (or three) sections, the lower part the capsule is inside the calyx, while the upper part (the stylar beak), projects out of the flower looking like the beak of a stork or crane (hence the common name, cranesbill).
(source: Wikipedia)
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this annual or biennial plant is native to the Mediterranean area. It begins growth as a spreading rosette of soft, feathery leaves, later flower-bearing stems grow more upright; all parts are hairy.
Flower colour varies from pink to purple, rarely white. Noticeable are the 5 dark purple stamens and the central star-shaped stigma formed at the tip of 5 fused styles.
Long pointed pods develop after flowering, resembling stork or heron’s beaks, hence the common names in both English and German.
Notable is the structure of the seeds that burst from the ripe pods. They have a coiled attachment that tightens and uncoils according to the humidity, causing the seed to twist and bury itself into the soil, so aiding future germination.
White
Yellow
Blue
Red
Other
• Backwater
• Marsh
• Damp Grasslands
•Scrub
• Cultivated Fields
• Wayside 
• Dry Grasslands
• Woodland
this annual or biennial plant is native to the Mediterranean area. It begins growth as a spreading rosette of soft, feathery leaves, later flower-bearing stems grow more upright; all parts are hairy.
Flower colour varies from pink to purple, rarely white. Noticeable are the 5 dark purple stamens and the central star-shaped stigma formed at the tip of 5 fused styles.
Long pointed pods develop after flowering, resembling stork or heron’s beaks, hence the common names in both English and German.
Notable is the structure of the seeds that burst from the ripe pods. They have a coiled attachment that tightens and uncoils according to the humidity, causing the seed to twist and bury itself into the soil, so aiding future germination.