Pictorial guide to the flora of the British Isles

Erodium cicutarium is a widespread plant of dry, fairly bare ground.

Aberffraw (VC52: Anglesey); 2007-10-20

Leaf

Ticino, Switzerland; 2008-05-11

The fruits of storksbills are initially long and straight, often held on reflexed pedicels.

Ticino, Switzerland; 2008-05-11

When mature, the fruit breaks into separate spiral-tailed mericarps, each of which is flung several inches away from the parent plant; the backward-pointing hairs help the seed to burrow into the soil.

Oxford (VC23: Oxfordshire); 2018-05-13

In Erodium cicutarium, the ‘apical pit’ (where the tail attaches to the seed) is bounded by a sharp ridge and groove.

Oxford (VC23: Oxfordshire); 2018-05-13