Erodium carolinianum

Erodium carolinianum Aldasoro, Aedo, C.Navarro & L.Sáez

A sprawling to sub-erect perennial with a thick fleshy taproot; Stems 1 or several 10-60 cm, covered in soft glandular hairs.

Erodium carolinianum; Photo credit – Mark Marathon, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

Leaves 2 x 1-4 cm with three crenate, principal lobes sinuses not reaching the main vein, hairs almost all glandular over both surfaces; petioles slender 2-13 cm; stipules and bracts acute.

Erodium cygnorum. Photo credit – Mark Marathon, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

Inflorescence: Flowers blue purple, veined red 20mm across in umbels of 2-6; pedicels covered with soft glandular hairs; sepals 0.6-1.3 x 0.3-0.7 mm, oblong-elliptic, covered with soft glandular hairs, mucro 2mm, flower buds rounded, furry, petals ovate, 12 x 7 mm; stamen filaments oblanceolate; stigma red.

Erodium carolinianum; Maralinga Tjarutja, South Australia, Australia; Sep 8, 2017; Credit: Dr Manfred Jusaitis, from iNaturalist (CC BY-NC)

Fruit: Mericarp c.10 mm; foveole with 1-2 folds beneath; beak 6-12 cm.

Distribution: Australia; mostly the drier parts of extra tropical South Australia extending to just north of Alice Springs, west to Tarcoola, east to Darling river.

First published in Anales Jard. Bot. Madrid 57: 407 (1999 publ. 2000)

Synonym: Erodium cygnorum subsp. glandulosum
Aldasoro et Al consider this taxa merits recognition at species level.