130 The Romance of Wild Flowers 
These fruits before they begin to break up are 
supposed when turned about to resemble the head 
of a crane with its long bill—hence the popular name, 
and the scientific name derived from the Greek, 
geranos, & crane. 
The Stork’s-bills (Hrodium), of which we have 
three native species, are very similar to the small- 
flowered section of the Crane’s-bills— especially 
G. pusillwm. They have been originally specialised 
for cross-fertilisation by insects, but they have 
partially given up their dependence on insects, with 
the result that their pink or rosy flowers are small, 
and five of their ten stamens never produce pollen. 
The Hemlock-leaved Stork’s-bill (2. cicutariwm) is 
the most frequent species, growing on gravelly wastes, 
and producing small umbels of rosy flowers, each 
less than half an inch across. The Musky Stork’s-bill 
(HZ. moschatum) is of larger stature, but of very 
local occurrence; easily detected by passing the 
leaves through the fingers, when the strong odour 
of musk will tell you which species you have, whether 
the more purple flowers are there to be identified or 
not. ‘Then in sundry places, near the sea especially, 
we may find the Sea-Stork’s-bill (4. maritumum), 
which in point of rarity comes between the other 
two, but is much smaller, with minute leaves, and 
pale-pink flowers not more than one-cighth of an inch 
across—that is to say, the flowers are pink when the 
petals are present, but often these are missing. 
The most interesting thing about the Stork’s- 
bills is the clever bit of mechanism by means of 
which they bury their seeds. Where you find the 
Stork’s-bills growing it is in considerable colonies, 
