• Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Shop
    • Gift Vouchers
    • Post-Review Optics
      • Post-review Binoculars
      • Post-review Spotting Scopes
    • View Cart
    • Your Account
      • edit-account
      • edit-address
      • lost-password
  • Wildlife Tours
    • Wildlife Holidays & Tours
    • Guided Wildlife and Birding Walks
    • Custom Wildlife and Birding Tours
  • Schools
  • Books
  • News
    • Irish Wildlife News
    • International Wildlife News
    • Wildlife Events
    • Wildlife Press Releases
  • Articles
    • Blog
      • Birding
      • Wildlife Photography
      • Whales and Dolphins
      • Mammals
      • Wildlife Podcasts
        • The Calendar Road
      • Biodiversity
      • Wildlife Calendar
    • Species Profiles
      • Amphibians
      • Birds
      • Fish
      • Fungi
      • Invertebrates
      • Mammals
      • Plants
      • Reptiles
    • Feature Articles
      • Choosing Binoculars
      • Birding for Beginners
      • How to watch whales and dolphins
      • How to watch Basking Sharks
      • Wildlife travel
    • Wildlife Portfolio
    • Wild Wide Web
    • Reviews
      • Book Reviews
      • Gear Reviews
        • Wildlife Optics
          • Binocular Reviews
          • Spotting Scope Reviews
        • Wildlife Clothing
        • Wildlife Accessories
  • Work with us
    • Write for us
    • Advertise with us
    • Sponsorship Opportunities
    • Wildlife Marketing Services
  • About
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Disclosure Statement
  • Contact

Ireland's Wildlife

Irish wildlife, nature and biodiversity

You are here: Home / Species Profiles / Plants / Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum)

Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum)

May 21, 2011 by Calvin Jones 3 Comments

imageHerb Robert is pretty little pink-flowering herb that frequents ditches, walls, hedgerows and woodland all over Ireland. According to the “doctrine of signatures” widely adopted in the middle ages a plant with curative properties would reveal its divine purpose through its appearance. Because the foliage of Herb Robert turns a fiery red colour in the autumn, or where the plant grows in dry and exposed conditions, it was widely used to treat blood disorders and to staunch the flow of blood from wounds.

The name Herb Robert is thought to come from the Latin ruber, meaning red; but an alternative explanation is that the plant was named after Robert, an early duke of Normandy who commissioned a celebrated mediaeval medical treatise. Yet another theory suggests that the name stems from the Robin (a diminutive form of Robert) of Robin Goodfellow, the impish sprite from English folklore also known as Puck who was immortalised by William Shakespeare in his play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”.

Herb Robert is a common, widespread plant that is shade tolerant and will grow almost anywhere. It occurs as either an annual or biennial herb with stems branching close to the base of the plant. Some of these stems grow upright while others sprawl along the ground, reaching lengths of between 10-50 cm (4-20 inches). The finely divided, palmate leaves are normally bright green and the entire plant is covered in tiny silvery hairs. Foliage turns red in autumn or when conditions are dry and exposed.

In may the small pink flowers with a white centre that radiates out into each of five rounded petals begin to emerge and persist until late into the autumn. The flowers attract a wide range of native insect species that serve to pollinate the plant, but where cross pollination fails to occur the flowers can fertilise themselves.

Herb Robert belongs to the genus Geranium, a name derived from the Greek “geranus”, which means crane. A close look at the plant’s seed pods, which are shaped like crane’s bills, reveals the inspiration for the name. When ripe these pods open suddenly to eject their payload of seed.

With it’s pink flowers and green and red foliage herb Robert is regarded by many to be an attractive plant – and inspired the poet William Wordsworth to pen the words: “Poor Robin is yet flowerless, but how gay with his red stalks on this sunny day.” Yet not everyone shares the bards enthusiasm. The plant’s foliage emits a strongly disagreeable smell when crushed – a characteristic that has earned it local names like “Stinking Bob”.

Herb Robert was once widely used to treat a range of medical conditions. The leaves were crushed to make compresses for bruises and wounds. It was taken internally for diarrhoea, peptic ulcers and bleeding, and applied externally to treat inflamed gums and herpes. The plant has also been used as a natural insect repellent and to obtain a brown dye. Although rarely encountered in contemporary herbal medicine recent research suggests herb Robert may lower blood sugar levels, making it a potentially useful treatment for diabetes.

Share this with your friends:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: Plants Tagged With: flowers, Geranium robertianum, herb robert, wild flowers

  • .
    .

About Calvin Jones

Calvin Jones is a freelance writer, author, birder and lifelong wildlife enthusiast. He is founder and editor of IrelandsWildlife.com and founder and wildlife guide of Ireland's Wildlife Tours offering wildlife and birding holidays on Ireland's south coast.

Reader Interactions

Trackbacks

  1. What grows on the old bridge at Ennisnag. | Nigel borrington says:
    July 10, 2014 at 13:41

    […] plants included (Herb Robert, wild Blackberry and […]

    Reply
  2. Introducing Herb Robert | Along the Grapevine says:
    June 30, 2015 at 05:22

    […] are interested in reading more about this remarkable little weed, its history and uses you can read here. I was most interested in the fact that it is considered a natural insect repellent. It has what is […]

    Reply
  3. Nagy- és napszerű virág, szentek és hónaljak | SUNYIVERZUM says:
    July 4, 2018 at 22:48

    […] a görög γέρανος, geranos, „daru” szóból származik.[10] (Ezt már érintettük.) A fajnév kalandosabb. Egy értelmezés szerint a latin ruber, „piros” szóból torzult, mások azt […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

  • .
    .

Search the site

Social

  • View WildIreland’s profile on Facebook
  • View WildIreland’s profile on Twitter
  • View WildIreland’s profile on Instagram
  • View WildIreland’s profile on Pinterest
  • View CalvinJones’s profile on LinkedIn
  • View IrelandsWildlife’s profile on YouTube
  • View IrelandsWildlife’s profile on Google+
  • View WildIreland’s profile on Flickr

Supporting Ireland’s Wildlife

  • .
    .
  • .
    .
  • .
    .
Fatbirder's Top 1000 Birding Websites

Footer

Experience Ireland’s Wildlife for yourself

Breaching humpback whale Ireland

Join us on a wildlife adventure on Ireland’s Wild South Coast… and find out first hand why we call this Europe’s Undiscovered Wildlife Frontier.

Find out more…

Recent Additions

  • Book Review: How to Be an Urban Birder
  • Review: Wunderbird Clothing for Birders
  • Book Review: The Great Big Book of Irish Wildlife Through the Seasons
  • Lunge-feeding Fin Whale caught on camera by drone
  • 12 Expert tips on choosing binoculars for birding and wildlife observation
  • Be “Nature Nice” this Tree Day!
  • Puffins of Ireland
  • Eagles and Fin Whales star on Ireland’s Wild South Coast

Tags

audio binoculars biodiversity birding birds Birdwatch Ireland books cetaceans citizen science CJ Wildlife competition conservation Cork fin whale full size binoculars garden birds garden wildlife Golden Eagle Trust Highly Recommended humpback whale Ireland IWDG Kerry mammals national biodiversity data centre npws optics photography raptors review reviews spring stranding surveys Vanguard west cork whales whales and dolphins whalewatching whale watching white tailed eagle Wildlife wildlife crime wildlife photography wildlife podcasts
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Ireland's Wildlife Privacy Policy

Take it from the top....

Copyright © 2019 Ireland's Wildlife · brought to you by the team at CJ Writing

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.