stork’s-bills

genus Erodium

Member of geranium family (family Geraniaceae)
dicots (class Magnoliopsida)
flowering plants (subphylum Angiospermae)

There are no other wild species of this genus in the bay area.

narrower, uniformly colored petals

Key feature: bristles on sepal tips, sepal length

redstem stork’s-bill
Erodium cicutarium

redstem stork’s-bill
Erodium cicutarium

stem ± glandular-hairy?
sepals 3–5 mm, tip with one or more bristles
petals ± = sepals
leaf compound; leaflets deeply dissected
pedicel is often a deep red purple, but not always
flowers in a cluster

musk stork’s-bill
Erodium moschatum

musk stork’s-bill
Erodium moschatum

stem short hairy
sepals 6–9 mm, tip glabrous [with knob, but no bristles]
petals 10–15 mm [often shorter]
leaf compound; leaflets lobed to shallowly divided
pedicel is often a green purple, but is often short and hidden by the flower
flowers in an umbel

soft stork’s-bill
Erodium malacoides

soft stork’s-bill
Erodium malacoides

leaf simple, crenate to shallowly lobed, blade generally < petiole
sepals 4–6 mm, tip with one or more bristles
petals ± = sepals
petals tinged toward red-purple rather than the above flowers’ pale purple
extremely rare in the bay area; may only be misidentifications

rounder, purple-veined petals

Key features: number of purple veins on all petals, color of sepal edges

Both of these flowers are arranged with a pair of adjacent petals that differ slightly from the other three.

mediterranean stork’s-bill
Erodium botrys

mediterranean stork’s-bill
Erodium botrys

petals are rounder and with more prominent veins than in common/musk
sepals 10–13 mm, tip with one or more bristles
petals ± > sepals (usually hiding the sepals)
all five petals show three distinct stripes each
at least one sepal has red edges
leaf lobed to dissected

hairy-pitted stork’s-bill
Erodium brachycarpum

hairy-pitted stork’s-bill
Erodium brachycarpum

petals are rounder and with more prominent veins than in common/musk
sepals 7–10 mm, tip with one or more bristles
petals ± > sepals (usually hiding the sepals)
at least two petals show only one distinct stripe each (possibly with fainter stripes on the sides)
no sepals have red edges
leaf lobed
discussion

4 observed taxons / 1 unobserved taxon / 1 key

Chris’s observations: 208 (206 are research grade)

Locations:

Months:

Jan.: 2
Feb.: 12
Mar.: 50
Apr.: 72
May: 33
Jun.: 24
Jul.: 8
Aug.: 3
Sep.: 1
Oct.: 1
Nov.: 1
Dec.: 1

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Not all sites include this taxon:

genus Erodium → iNaturalist – Calflora – Jepson eFlora
not yet listed → FNA

Bay Area species: iNaturalist – Calflora