Erodium cicutarium – “Heronbill”

Also Known As: Cranesbill, Storkbill, Common Stork’s Bill, Redstem Stork’s Bill, Filaree, Red-Stemmed Filaree, Pinweed
Family: Geranium (Geraniaceae)
Bloom Period: Feb-Jul
Form: Annual or biennial herb
Habitat: Widely found in a variety of habitats, especially human-disturbed
Leaves: Twice pinnately-compound
Translation: “Erodium” is derived from “erodios,” the Greek word for “heron,” and refers to the long pointy shape of the fruit, like a heron’s bill; “cicutarium” is Latin for “like Cicuta,” because the leaves resemble those of “Cicuta,” a.k.a. Poison Hemlock.
Notes: Introduced from the Mediterranean in the 1700’s and now widespread. The shape of the seed makes it especially well-suited to traveling and self-establishment: as it ripens, the fruit dries out and the “bill” turns into a corkscrew, which is easily caught in fur, wool, or clothing and transported to a new location. When the seed gets wet, the corkscrew straightens out, driving itself into soil and “planting itself.” The closely related Texas Storksbill (Erodium texanum) is native and can be distinguished by its leaves, which are far less divided; merely lobed rather than twice pinnately-compound. These two plants are the only species of the Geranium Family that grow in North American deserts.
Native American Uses: The Kumeyaay ate the spring leaves, the Ohlone ate the stems, and Hopi children chewed on the roots like gum. The Isleta, Kawaiisu, Navajo and Ramah fed livestock with the plant. Medicinally, the Ohlone gave an infusion of the leaves for typhoid fever, nursing Jemez women ate it as a galactagogue (to produce more milk), Navajo and Kayenta used it to treat wild cat bites and for infections, and the Zuni drank an infusion of the root for stomachaches and applied a poultice of macerated root to sores and rashes. The Jemez also mixed a powder of the dried plant with watermelon seeds while in storage and at planting to prevent watermelon disease. The Navajo and Kayenta included the plant in prayer sticks. (Note that some of the published references to Native American use of this plant that I used in my research might have been referring to Texas Storkbill [Erodium texanum], its native relative.)
Animal Associations: Seeds eaten by the White-Tailed Antelope Ground Squirrel, the Kangaroo Rat, and Gambel’s Quail. Harvester ants collect the seeds for food and store large quantities of them underground. Their mounds are often ringed with the discarded hulls.