Geranium bohemicum
Geranium bohemicum L.
Geraniaceae – Crane’s-bill family
Conservation status. Endangered [EN A4c]. BDA.
Morphology and biology. Herbaceous annual or biannual. Stem erect, often strongly branched. Leaves deeply, palmately lobed, upper subsessile. Flowers in pairs, each pair on a peduncle. Sepals aristate. Petals longer than sepals, obovate, emarginate, bright violet blue with darker veins. Fruit dry, mericarps without ridges, patently hairy, with persistent, densely hairy curved beaks. Fl. VI–VII, fr. VII–VIII. Insect pollination. Reproduction by seeds.
Habitats and populations. Grows in mountains at lower elevation, in mixed deciduous forests of Quercus petraea, Carpinus betulus, Fagus sylvatica. Populations are small and fragmented, fragments consist sometimes of solitary to few plants.
Distribution in Bulgaria. Valley of Struma River, Pirin Mts, Rila Mts, Sredna Gora Mt, Rhodopi Mts, Strandzha Mt; up to 1500 m alt.
General distribution. E, C and S Europe, the Caucasus.
Threats. Low number of individuals in the populations; poor reproduction potential; habitat deterioration caused by pollution and construction activities associated with tourist development.
Conservation measures taken. Protected species according to the national Biodiversity Act. Some localities in Rila Mts are within Rilski Manastir Nature Park, Parangalitsa Strict Nature Reserve and Rila National Park. Most localities fall within sites of the European ecological network Natura 2000 in Bulgaria.
Conservation measures needed. Protection of habitats by restriction of the construction activities and pollution; deposition of seeds to the National Seed Genebank in Bulgaria.
References. Webb & Ferguson 1968; Petrova & Kožuharov 1979; Petrova 1984; Greuter et al. 1989.
Author: Pepa Ignatova
