Erodium cicutarium (L.) L’Her.   Geraniaceae (Geranium Family)   Europe   Red-Stem Filaree   Storksbill   Herons Bill

                                       March Photo

Plant Characteristics: Annual herb, leaves first forming a close rosette on the ground, pinnately veined, simple to pinnate, opposite, with 1 interpetiolar stipule on one side and 2 on the other; stems slender, decumbent, 1-5 dm. long, strigulose and glandular-pubescent; lvs. commonly 3-10 cm. long, pinnate, the lfts. incisely pinnatifid; stipules lanceolate, blades longer than the petioles; peduncles 5-15 cm. long, glandular-pubescent; pedicels 2-10, glandular-pubescent 8-18 mm. long; sepals 3-5 mm. long, short-mucronate and with 1-2 white bristles; petals rose-lavender, 5-7 mm. long, ciliate at the base, 2-spotted; style column 2-4 cm. long; carpel-bodies 4-5 mm. long, stiff pubescent, the apical concavities glabrous, without a subtending fold.

Habitat:  Common everywhere in Calif. in open dry places below 6000 ft.  Feb.-May.

Name:  Greek, erodios, a heron, because of the long beak on the fruit.  (Munz, Flora So. Calif. 490).  Cicutarium refers to the leaves, which resemble the leaves of poison hemlock.  Cicuta is the ancient Latin name for poison hemlock.  (Dale 120) .

The common name filaree comes from the Spanish alfiler, a pin, and refers to the long slender beak of the carpels. (Parsons 200).  Parsons book was published in 1909.  (my comment).

General:  Common throughout the study area.  Photographed on the Castaway's Bluffs, on the east side of the Delhi Ditch, North Star Beach and along Back Bay Dr. between the Newporter Inn and San Joaquin Hills Dr.   (my comments).     Excellent for forage, the plant was introduced for this purpose, mainly for sheep.  All species are edible; shortly after its introduction, the American Indians used the plant for food. It can be eaten cooked or raw; cooked greens are similar to spinach. (Clarke 194).      E. cicutarium is the most common and widespread of our Erodium species.  In Fremont's early report, he states that in 1844 this species "covered the ground like a sward" and that in lower San Joaquin Valley he found "instead of grass, the whole surface of country closely covered with it".  (Robbins et al. 275-276).     A mild uterine hemostatic and diuretic for water retention, rheumatism, or gout.  Not a potent plant, a fair amount is needed for effect depending on the use.  Storksbill is a traditional afterbirth remedy in northern Mexico and New Mexico, said to reliably decrease bleeding and help prevent infection.  For joint inflammations a fair amount of the tea is consumed and the wet leaves used for a poultice for several days, the swellings subsiding by the third or fourth day.  (Moore, Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West 149).     There are five fairly common species of Erodium within our borders.  (Robbins et al. 273)

Text Ref:  Jepson 592;  Hickman Ed. 672; Munz, Flora So. Calif. 490.

Photo Ref:  Mar 1 84 # 12; Mar 2 85 # 7; Feb-Mar 86 # 15; July 1 86 # 19.

Identity: by R. De Ruff, confirmed by F. Roberts.

First Found:  March 1984.

Computer Ref:  Plant Data 33.

Have plant specimen.  

Last edit 12/20/04.  

                                   March Photo                                                                        March Photo