5 lobed leaf - help with ID please!

[Elya]

Hi,
I need some help identifying this plant, I took this picture in around September at Oxwich Bay sand dunes whilst doing some field work and I've no idea what it is. Pretty useless at this stuff.
I need to identify it pretty quickly to include in my assignment so any help would be greatly appreciated!

Sorry about the dodgy camera angle :/
Thanks!

[Dorts]

A bit more information would certainly help. Was it from a tree? If so itcould be the young shoot from a Field Maple - Acer campestre.
If it was from a low-growing herb, I'll need to re-think. So more info please.
Dorts.

[Elya]

It wasn't taken from a tree or very near to any at all, I'm pretty sure we found it amongst one of the non-grazed areas which were quite dominated by marram grass towards the younger dunes but I'm not 100%.

Just noticed the leaves further down seem to have more square shaped lobes compared to the ones on top, could help? >_<

Thanks!

[Dorts]

Thanks for the extra info. I am going to stay with my first thought of Field Maple. Many such tree species can survive occasional grazing as long as there are periods when the plant is allowed to grow for a time.
I cannot at the moment think of anything else that will fit this leaf-shape.
Dorts.

[Elya]

I also just got an e-mail from one of the rangers who works on the dunes who says its an immature plant and looks like bloody cranesbill. What do you think?

[Dorts]

My only other initial thought was a Geranium sp. but I couldn't think of one that fitted.
Bloody Cranesbill normally has a very deeply divided leaf, very unlike your plant, but I suppose it is possible that immature leaves may occasionally take the form of your plant.
Your rangers will know the plants of that area, so maybe you should go with their suggestion, it is certainly a possibility.
Take plenty of photo's next time Elya, it should make an ID a little easier.
All the best.
Dorts.

[Dorts]

Elya. I have taken time to look much more closely at your 'leaves'. It is very likely that they are from an atypical shoot of Bloody Cranesbill.
If you look at the less dissected form of leaf from Geranium sanguinium and imagine just the three forward lobes, they are very similar to those on your plant.
It may be because this leafy growth occured late in the season, it has in some way diverged from the norm. Indeed cold weather alone can cause 'deformaty' in plants.
So I am now happy to agree that it is Bloody Cranesbill.
Dorts.

[Elya]

Great! Thanks for all of your help, and I'll be sure to take more and better pictures next time indeed

[Cotham Marble]

Originally Posted by Dorts

So I am now happy to agree that it is Bloody Cranesbill.

Simply othe grounds of how abundant BCb is along that part of the Gower coast, it would have to be favourite for an ident. I think the arridity and blown sand both contribute to deformation of the leaves, and I've always been surprised by the amount of 'flower' that seems to burst out of steep slopes of raw sand, seemingly without any foliage supporting it at all - the folliage having been burried under the moving sand.

CM

[alindsay]

....and here's a picture of field maple which is in no way hairy, so agree definately not that !!!!