Erodium lebelii

Inflorescence: flowers 2-4(5) per umbel, mostly less than 10mm, red-pink, pink or white, not spotted. Beak 1.8-2.4 cm; mericarp 4-5.5 mm; foveole small, wellmarked, not glandular, and without a furrow, over arched by hairs from main part of mericarp; awn spiral with 4-6 turns; cotyledons tri-lobed. 2n=20, 40

This can be distinguish from E. cicutarium by lack of furrow beneath pit, short spiral on awns, with only 4-6 turns and the fact that it often has grains of sand stuck to its glandular hairs!

Easily distinguished from Erodium aethiopicum by length of rostrum (30-55 mm in aethiopicum), short spiral on awns, (8-16 turns in aethiopicum) and being glandular hairy. E. lebelii is a much smaller plant the E. aethiopicum. Close to E. aethiopicum but genetically isolated: at best will only produce sterile hybrids with E. aethiopicum.

Distribution: found on maritime sand-dunes, Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Germany, France, Ireland, Great Britain, Spain, Portugal, Italy

Erodium lebelii at Oxwich, Gower Peninsular, Wales, June 1997

Erodium lebelii at Kenfig, Gower Peninsular, Wales, June 1997