Erodium

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Erodium
Erodium malacoides
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Geraniales
Family: Geraniaceae
Genus: Erodium
Aiton
Species

See text.

Erodium is a genus of flowering plants in the botanical family Geraniaceae. The genus includes about 60 species, native to North Africa, Indomalaya, The Middle East and Australia. They are perennials, annuals or subshrubs, with five-petalled flowers in shades of white, pink and purple, that strongly resemble the better-known Geranium (cranesbill).[1] American species are known as filarees or heron's bill, whereas Eurasian ones are usually called storksbills in English.

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 for 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).

Cultivation

In cultivation, erodiums are usually seen in rockeries or alpine gardens.[1]

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.[2]

Ecology

Erodium species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Pasture Day Moth.

Species

Fruit of Erodium ciconium
  • Erodium acaule (L.) Bech. & Thell.
  • Erodium aethiopicum (Lam.) Brumh. & Thell.
  • Erodium aureum
  • Erodium botrys (Cav.) Bertol.
  • Erodium brachycarpum (Godr.) Thell.
  • Erodium carolinianum
  • Erodium chium (L.) Willd.
  • Erodium chrysantum L'Hér. ex DC.
  • Erodium ciconium (L.) L’Hér.
  • Erodium cicutarium (L.) L’Hér.
  • Erodium corsicum Léman
  • Erodium crinitum
  • Erodium crispum Lapeyr.
  • Erodium cygnorum Nees
  • Erodium foetidum (L.) L'Hér.
  • Erodium glandulosum (Cav.) Willd.
  • Erodium gruinum (L.) L'Hér.
  • Erodium hoefftianum C. A. Meyer
  • Erodium laciniatum (Cav.) Willd.
  • Erodium lebelii Jord.
  • Erodium macrophyllum Hook. & Arn.
  • Erodium malacoides (L.) L’Hér.
  • Erodium manescavii Coss.
  • Erodium maritimum (L.) L’Hér.
  • Erodium moschatum (L.) L’Hér.
  • Erodium mouretii Pitard.
  • Erodium reichardii
  • Erodium rodiei (Braun-Blanq.) Poirion
  • Erodium salzmannii Delile
  • Erodium texanum A. Gray
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 RHS A-Z encyclopedia of garden plants. United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. 2008. p. 1136. ISBN 1405332964. 
  2. ↑ "Erodium × variabile 'Roseum'". Royal Horticultural Society. Retrieved 26 July 2013. 


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