Erodium cyrenaicum

Perennial; root a thinnish tap-root, with small round tubers; sparsely leafy annual stems to 50cm.

Leaves glabrescent, entire, but basal leaves cut to the midrib;

Inflorescence: Umbels of 4-8 scentless flowers 3-3.5cm across, pink?; sepals hairy on upper surface, with no mucro

Fruit: Mericarp glabrous, 5-10mm; beak c8cm. 2n=20 Guitt.

Differs from E. crassifolium in having pinnatisect leaves not pinnatifid, and larger flowers (petals are longer).

Distribution: Africa; endemic to Cyrenaica (ie. Libya) in ‘terra rossa’ in North East Libya among very barren sandstone ‘butts’

First Published in Proc. Int. Gre. Symp., P76 (1990)

Synonym:
Erodium hirtum var. cyrenaicum Pamp. in Nuovo Giorn. Bot. Ital., n.s., 23: 279 (1916)