Erodium | |
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Erodium malacoides | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Geraniales |
Family: | Geraniaceae |
Genus: | Erodium Aiton |
Species | |
See text | |
Synonyms | |
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Erodium is a genus of flowering plants in the botanical family Geraniaceae. The genus includes about 120 species with a subcosmopolitan distribution, native to Europe, North Africa, Asia, Australia, and more locally in North and South America. [1] They are perennials, annuals, or subshrubs, with five-petalled flowers in shades of white, pink, and purple, that strongly resemble the better-known Geranium (crane's-bills). [2] In English-speaking areas of Europe, the species are known as stork's-bills. [3] In North America they are known as filarees or heron's bill.[ citation needed ]
Carl Linnaeus grouped in the same genus (Geranium), the three similar genera Erodium, Geranium, and Pelargonium . The distinction between them was made by Charles Louis L'Héritier de Brutelle based on the number of stamens or anthers; five in Erodium, [4] seven for Pelargonium, and ten for Geranium. [4] However, the three genera have the same characteristics in regard to their fruit, which resemble long bird beaks. That characteristic is the basis for the names: Geranium evokes the crane (Greek geranos), Pelargonium the stork (pelargos), and Erodium the heron (erodios). Erodium species also differ in having pinnate leaves, whereas Geranium species have palmately lobed or divided leaves. [5]
In cultivation, Erodium species are usually seen in rockeries or alpine gardens. [2]
The hybrid cultivar E. × variabile 'Roseum' (E. corsicum × E. reichardii), a compact, spreading perennial with rose-pink flowers in summer, has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. [6]
Erodium species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including the pasture day moth.
As of June 2024 [update] , the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families accepts 121 species: [1]
Hybrids include:
Species such as E. cicutarium and E. moschatum are edible. [7]
Genista is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family Fabaceae, native to open habitats such as moorland and pasture in Europe and western Asia. They include species commonly called broom, though the term may also refer to other genera, including Cytisus and Chamaecytisus. Brooms in other genera are sometimes considered synonymous with Genista: Echinospartum, Retama, Spartium, Stauracanthus, and Ulex.
Linaria is a genus of almost 200 species of flowering plants, one of several related groups commonly called toadflax. They are annuals and herbaceous perennials, and the largest genus in the Antirrhineae tribe of the plantain family Plantaginaceae.
Anthemis is a genus of aromatic flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, closely related to Chamaemelum, and like that genus, known by the common name chamomile; some species are also called dog-fennel or mayweed. Anthemis are native to the Mediterranean region and southwest Asia east to Iran. A number of species have also become naturalized in the United Kingdom and other parts of the world.
The genus Carthamus, the distaff thistles, includes plants in the family Asteraceae. The group is native to Europe, North Africa, and parts of Asia. The flower has been used since ancient times in the Philippines, which it has been called kasubha by the Tagalog people.
Bupleurum is a large genus of annual or perennial herbs or woody shrubs, with about 190 species, belonging to the family Apiaceae. The full size of its species may vary between a few cm to up to 3 m high. Their compound umbels of small flowers are adorned with bracteoles that are sometimes large and may play a role in attracting pollinators. Rare among the Apiaceae are the simple leaves, bracts, and bracteoles. The genus is almost exclusively native in the Old World Northern Hemisphere, with one species native to North America and one species native to southern Africa.
Diplotaxis (wall-rocket) is a genus of 32–34 species of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae (Cruciferae), native to Europe, the Mediterranean region and Macaronesia; the species diversity is highest in the Iberian Peninsula, North Africa and the Cape Verde archipelago. They are annual or perennial plants, either herbaceous or sub-shrubby with a woody base. The flowers are yellow in most species, but are white in Diplotaxis erucoides and violet in Diplotaxis acris. Some species, such as Diplotaxis tenuifolia and Diplotaxis muralis, have been historically used as leaf vegetables, are similar to Eruca sativa in their peppery flavour, and are used interchangeably with it.
Anthyllis is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. This genus contains both herbaceous and shrubby species and is distributed in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. The most widespread and familiar species is A. vulneraria, a familiar grassland flower which has also been introduced to New Zealand.
Jacobaea is a genus of flowering plants in the tribe Senecioneae and the family Asteraceae. Its members used to be placed in the genus Senecio, but have been separated into the segregate genus Jacobaea on the basis of molecular phylogenetics in order to maintain genera that are monophyletic.
Hedysarum (sweetvetch) is a genus of the botanical family Fabaceae, consisting of about 200 species of annual or perennial herbs found in Asia, Europe, North Africa, and North America.
Hippocrepis is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. It includes 34 species native to Europe, northern Africa, and western Asia.
Erodium moschatum is a species of flowering plant in the geranium family known by the common names musk stork's-bill and whitestem filaree. This is a weedy annual or biennial herb which is native to much of Eurasia and North Africa but can be found on most continents where it is an introduced species.
Adenocarpus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It belongs to the subfamily Faboideae. The plants are broom-like shrubs with bright yellow flowers. The genus is native to the Mediterranean Basin and sub-Saharan Africa, but finds its highest diversity in Northwest Africa and the Iberian Peninsula.
Chaenorhinum is a genus of flowering plants. It includes 27 species of annual and perennial herbs native to the Mediterranean Basin, Europe, and western Asia to the western Himalayas. They thrive in dry stony areas and scree. They are closely related to snapdragons. The leaves are linear to oblong or rounded, opposite at the base. The flowers resemble snapdragons, being typically zygomorphic, hooded, lobed and spurred. They are borne in terminal racemes or singly in the leaf axils of the branching stems.