Erodium crinitum

A sprawling or partly erect perennial with a thick, fleshy rootstock. Plants vary from robust to thin tiny single stems, as usual in these ‘weedy’ species.

Stems may reach 0.5m, 1 to several from the crown, with stiff white hairs.

Leaves: not very large – to 40mm long, 30mm wide – triangular in outline, with two basal lobes cut to the midrib; the edge crenate, lobes rounded; the nodal bracts and leaf stipules acute.

Inflorescence: Umbels (1-)4-6 flowered; sepals lanceolate to oblong white hairy and with no glandular hairs with a short mucro; flower bud rather a flat oval (other Australian sp tend to have round flower buds); petals half as long again or same length as the sepals at 10mm long, blue purple with yellow or white veins merging to form a yellow or white base; anthers and stigma yellow; staminodes one-third length of stamens.

Fruit: Mericarp covered in long white simple hairs; foveole - has two ridges in the mericarp apex instead of a clear-cut pit; beak 40-70mm.

2n=40

Distribution: endemic to Australia – central and east ; extra tropical southern and eastern Australia, as far north as the Musgrave Ranges in Queensland; generally in open habitats.

Notes: plants with beaks longer than 70mm are likely to be E. cygnorum

Erodium crinitum. Photo credit: Harry Rose - licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)

Erodium crinitum. Photo credit - Mark Marathon, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

Erodium crinitum. Photo credit: Harry Rose from South West Rocks, Australia - licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)