Erodium cicutarium (L.) L’Her.
Geraniaceae (Geranium Family)EuropeRed-Stem FilareeStorksbillHerons 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