Shining Crane's-bill

The shining cranesbill is an annual plant with stems up to 35 cm (14 in) long, brittle, fleshy, hairless and often red. Leaves round or kidney-shaped and glossy, palmately-lobed or divided bluntly to about two-thirds of their depth, sometimes with short hairs on the upper surface. Flowers with parts in fives, with sharply keeled sepals and bright pink, rounded petals, some 10 mm (0.4 in) in diameter, the 8 to 10 mm (0.3 to 0.4 in) petals having long bases and flat blades. These are borne in pairs from May to August. The fruits are beaked capsules, ridged and slightly hairy, at least on the edges, and splitting open into five parts. The seeds are smooth. The whole plant has a tendency to turn red.

The shining cranesbill is native to Europe, Asia as far east as the Himalayas and northern Africa. This plant is common in Great Britain and Ireland, especially in the southwest and west, but uncommon in Scotland. It is found at altitudes of up to 610 m (2,000 ft). It has been grown as a garden plant in parts of the United States and has become naturalised in the Pacific Northwest.