• Source: Erodium

Erodium is a genus of flowering plants in the botanical family Geraniaceae. The genus includes about 120 species with a subcosmopolitan distribution, native to Europe, North Africa, Asia, Australia, and more locally in North and South America. They are perennials, annuals, or subshrubs, with five-petalled flowers in shades of white, pink, and purple, that strongly resemble the better-known Geranium (crane's-bills). In English-speaking areas of Europe, the species are known as stork's-bills. In North America they are known as filarees or heron's bill.




Taxonomy


Carl Linnaeus grouped in the same genus (Geranium), the three similar genera Erodium, Geranium, and Pelargonium. The distinction between them was made by Charles Louis L'Héritier de Brutelle based on the number of stamens or anthers; five in Erodium, seven for Pelargonium, and ten for Geranium. However, the three genera have the same characteristics in regard to their fruit, which resemble long bird beaks. That characteristic is the basis for the names: Geranium evokes the crane (Greek geranos), Pelargonium the stork (pelargos), and Erodium the heron (erodios). Erodium species also differ in having pinnate leaves, whereas Geranium species have palmately lobed or divided leaves.




= Species

=

As of June 2024, the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families accepts 121 species:

Hybrids include:

Erodium × anaristatum Andreas
Erodium × bolosii Romo
Erodium × fallax Jord.
Erodium × viscosum Salzm. ex Delile




Ecology


Erodium species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including the pasture day moth.




Cultivation


In cultivation, Erodium species are usually seen in rockeries or alpine gardens.
The hybrid cultivar E. × variabile 'Roseum' (E. corsicum × E. reichardii), a compact, spreading perennial with rose-pink flowers in summer, has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.




Uses


Species such as E. cicutarium and E. moschatum are edible.




See also


Wool alien




References






Further reading



Pink, A. (2004). Gardening for the Million. Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Flora Lebanon
• Geraniaceae
• Erodium
• Erodium cicutarium
• Erodium Thunk
• Erodium chrysanthum
• Erodium sosnowskianum
• Erodium hendrikii
• Erodium alnifolium
• Erodium lebelii
• Erodium manescavi
• Hygroscopy