1446 FLOWERS OF THE ROADSIDES AND HEDGES 
A hedgerow plant, Herb Robert is one of the unfailing signs of 
spring with its characteristic scent, which is perceptible in the middle 
ofa lane. It grows where one also finds Red Campion, Winter Cress, 
Garlic Mustard, Hedge Parsley, Cow Parsnip, Cleavers, Nipplewort, 
and many another hedgerow flower. It is also a common woodland 
species, forming big clumps where there is open space, and is always 
a shade-lover. But another habitat is waste ground, where it is 
commonly accompanied by 
Hedge Mustard, Nipple- 
wort, and wayside thistles. 
Itisastrageling, spread- 
ing plant, with many diverg- 
ing branches, slender, shin- 
ing, but stiffly hairy, and 
vinous red, with swollen 
nodes. The leaves are 
opposite, 3-5-parted, with 
lobes divided into three 
parts at the back and nearly 
to the midrib, the segments 
having a small terminal red 
spine. There are paired 
stipules or leaflike organs 
at the nodes. The flowers 
are streaked red and white, 
or white. The flower-stalks 
are 2-flowered, the sepals 
closely united, the petals 
entire and as long as the 
Photo. B. Hanley 
HERB ROBERT (Geranium robertianum, L.) < 
calyx, which has long awns, 
and is slightly glandular. The capsules are transversely wrinkled. 
The plant grows to a height of 2 ft. The flowers are in evidence 
for six months from April onwards. Herb Robert is a perennial. 
The honey is not protected by a fringe of hairs from the rain in this 
plant, as in the Meadow Crane’s Bill, and the flowers are not so ex- 
panded or large as in the latter, but are partly drooping in wet weather, 
and the corolla is tubular, the petals smooth. The 5 stigmas are 
adjacent when the plant is in flower, and the 5 outer stamens are quite 
near them in the centre, and thus protect the honey. The anthers 
project above them and become covered with pollen. The 5 inner 
stamens remain bent outwards, and are not in an insect’s way. The 
