Common Name(s):
Storksbill
Redstem filaree
Alfilaria
Filaree
Redstem storksbill
Scientific Name:
Erodium cicutarium (L.) L’Hér. ex Ait.
Description:
Life Span: Winter annual
Origin: Introduced
Season: Cool or Warm (dependant on climate)
Growth Characteristics: A low and spreading 2 to 5 inch tall plant, growing from a central taproot. The stems are leafy and hairy. Flowers February to May, and plants usually dry up and disappear quickly after maturity. It is one of the first plants to germinate in late fall or spring. Reproduces from seeds.
Flowers/Inflorescence: Borne on hairy stalks in umbrella-shaped clusters. Flowers vary in color from pink to purple.
Fruits/Seeds:Each seed is tipped with an elongated tail, which coils spirally at maturity, assisting the pointed seed in penetrating the soil.
Leaves: Finely divided as on a carrot, hairy, and very delicate. In early growth stages, the leaves form only a basal rosette, but later appear on the stems as well.