Rosulate or caulescent herbs or shrublets; stems pilose, hirsute or hispid and glandular
Leaves alternate, subopposite or opposite, those of a pair unequal, smaller ones with lateral branch and/or inflorescence in axil; petiolate; lamina simple or compound, elliptic, very broadly ovate to oblong-ovate or deltate-ovate; pinnae ovate or obliquely ovate, dentate to serrate; stipules usually paired
Inflorescence a cymose pseudo-umbel; bracts ovate or subulate, mostly scarious, whitish to straw-coloured
Flowers regular, hypogynous
Sepals 5, free, persistent, enlarged around fruit
Petals 5, obovate, apex obtuse; white, pink or violet
Disc of 5 oblong glands, between fertile stamens and sepals
Ovary deeply 5-lobed, 5-locular, hispid, with 2 axile ovules per locule, lower ovule abortive; stigmas 5, filiform
Mericarps 5, 1-seeded; head obliquely ovoid, tapering towards spinose base, hispid with ascending hairs; awns crested, spirally twisted
Seeds brown
x = 9, 10 (7, 8) (polyploidy)
Nomenclature:
Erodium L'Hér.
L'Héritier: 414 (1789)
Harvey: 258 (1860)
Knuth: 221 (1912)
Venter & Verhoeven: 79 (1990)
Distribution & Notes:
Global: Species 60, Europe, Mediterranean to central Asia, temperate Australia and south tropical South America
Southern Africa: Species 6, widespread
References:
HARVEY, W.H. 1860. Geraniaceae. Flora capensis 1
KNUTH, R. 1912. Geraniaceae. Das Pflanzenreich 4. 129 (Heft 53)
L' HÉRITIER DE BRUTELLE, C.L. 1789. Erodium, Pelargonium. In W. Aiton, Hortus kewensis 2. George Nicol, London
VENTER, H.J.T. & VERHOEVEN, R.L. 1990. The genus Erodium in southern Africa. South African Journal of Botany 56,1
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Welcome to Biodiversity Advisor 2.0!
Biodiversity Advisor, developed by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) and its Data Partners, is a system that will provide integrated biodiversity information to a wide range of users who will have access to geospatial data, plant and animal species distribution data, ecosystem-level data, literature, images and metadata.
The integrated information comes from our much-loved Botanical Database of Southern Africa (BODATSA) also known as Plants of Southern Africa (POSA), Zoological Database of Southern Africa (ZODATSA), Biodiversity Geographic Information System (BGIS), SANBI's institutional repository (Opus) and others.
The system is still under development, so you may find a few bugs/issues. If you do, please report it via the error reporting button available in various sections of the website or provide us with any useful feedback you may have via the ‘Give us feedback’ option available in the sidebar menu. You can create a free account for yourself by clicking on the user profile icon which will take you through to the login page. Here you can choose the ‘Create an account’ option or simply fill in your details if you have an account already. Having an account on Biodiversity Advisor will provide users with free access to biodiversity resources.
In future, Team SANBI will be able to log in using their day-to-day login details, BGIS users will be able to use their existing accounts and details, and general users will be able to log in using their LinkedIn profile, but for now you will need to create an account.
