Long-beaked storksbill or filaree is a prostrate to erect introduced annual that has retrorsely hispid stems.  There is a basal rosette of leaves and sometimes that is all you see of the plant.  The cauline leaves are opposite, ovate to oblong-ovate, shallowly to deeply pinnatifid, and bristly-hairy on the veins and margins.  The stipules are ovate, somewhat scarious, and often a deep reddish-green.  The flowers are solitary or in several-flowered umbels on peduncles to 4" long.  There are five bristly-tipped and reddish sepals and five lavender to red-violet petals marked with purple veins.  The style column is elongated to as much as 5".  The fruit body is about 7/16" long, and is fusiform and indehiscent.  Upon maturity, the style splits into five one-seeded sections. This Erodium is found in grassy areas and along roadsides at elevations to 3000' throughout California except for the desert, but is not as common as its relative, E. cicutarium.  It is a native of the Mediterranean region, and blooms from March to May.

Click here for Latin name derivations: 1) Erodium 2) botrys.
Pronunciation: er-OH-dee-um BOT-ris.
Click here for Botanical Term Meanings.