Erodium botrys (Cav.) Bertol.
Family: Geraniaceae

Pertinent Synonyms & Notes (particularly those used in California; go to GRIN for other synonyms)

none

Pertinent Common Names (particularly those used in California; go to GRIN for other common names)

broadleaf filaree, longbeak storksbill

Primary Disseminule Type

fruit segment

Description (diagnostics are in brown)

Fruit a schizocarp consisting of five segments (mericarps) that separate at maturity. Each segment contains a single seed, is indehiscent, typically has its elongated style (“beak”) still attached.

Mericarp body oblanceolate, 7–11 mm long, dark purple, with stiff, dense antrorse hairs and a pair of eglandular apical pits (transversely narrowed) subtended by (2)3–4 ridges (typically creating 2 furrows, which are glabrous). Mericarp beak 5–12 cm long (=length of style shaft when unwound), with short and long hair types, ± twisted in the lower portion and sharply curved near the middle to form a right angle.

Seed oblanceolate, ± terete, 3–4 mm long x ca. 1.1–1.2 mm wide. Surface tan to brown, with a low ridge radiating upwards from the top of the hilum.

Hilum linear, extending upwards from the base of the seed.

Similar Species

Similar Species Comparison Chart

Risk Assessment (codes in yellow or red indicate cause for concern; assessments are current as of mid-2011; click AUQP, NZBORIC, or NZBPI for access to the most recent versions of these databases and possible assessment changes)

AUQP, NZBORIC, NZBPI