Erodium

and California

This site was created and is maintained by Benjamin Coultrup.

Photos all ©Benjamin Coultrup unless otherwise indicated, 1984-2021.

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Erodium

Classification

Species

Clade I, Subclade 1

Subgenus Erodium

 - Section Erodium

 - Section Oxyrynchia

 - stephanianum group

Clade I, Subclade 2

Subgenus Barbata

 - Section  Absinthoidea

Clade II, Subclade 3

 - cygnorum group

Clade II, Subclade 4

 - botrys group

 - Section Cicutaria,

   - Subsection Cicutaria

   - Subsection Acaulia

 - Section Malacoidea

   - Subsection Reichardia

   - Subsection Malacoidea

 - Section Foetida

California

Literature and References

Notes

Erodium chrysanthum L’Her.

Dioecious tufted perennial to 20cm.

Leaves up to 3cm, silvery or silver-grey, bipinnate or pinnate with pinnatisect leaflets, with intercalary leaflets; ultimate leaflets rather round lobed.

Inflorescence: Flowering stems to 20cm, with short dense appressed hairs. Umbel with 2-7 flowers; bracts several, obtuse with glandular hairs. Sepals 8-12mm, with glandular hairs and with a mucro less than 2mm; Petals buttercup yellow, not blotched nor veined; stigma and stamens always yellow.

Erodium chrysanthum on Mount Parnonas, Greece. Author unknown,  licensed under the Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).

Fruit: Beak 50-60mm, Mericarps 6-7mm. 2n=54

Distribution: on limestone sree, up to 2100m; endemic to Greece: Mt Parnassus, Kastri, Pelopponese: Mt Kyllene on scree, Mt Helmos, Mt Tayettos, Mt Melanon, Mt Giona.

Notes 1: Plants sold under E.chrysanthum are usually the garden hybrid E. x lindavicum!

E. chrysanthum has yellow stigma and stamens - not pink, brown, red etc.

Notes 2: on Kew’s website ‘Plants of the World Online’, it’s  Erodium chrysanthum page shows photos of Erodium x lindavicum!! - The flower colour is too pale and the stamens are pink, not a clear yellow. Beware!!