Erodium iranicum El-Oqlah
Annual, up to 35 cm tall, with erect branched stem, hirsute, with a vertical tap-root;
Leaves: leaves up to 12 cm long; stipules ovate or lanceolate, brown and leathery, with very narrow white membranous margin, puberulent; petiole to 5.5 cm terete in outline, clothed with long eglandular and long or sessile glandular hairs. Lamina 6 x 5.5 cm, ovate in outline, pinnatisect with lower margin fully incised to midrib resulting in 2 basal lobes 3×2 cm, ovate with creneate margin, lamina hirsute on both sides, glandular hairs dense usually mixed with eglandular.
Inflorescence: Umbels lateral and terminal, with 3 flowers. Peduncles (4.5-)7.5(-10.5) cm clothed with glandular hairs; bracts (4-)5.1 (-6.5) mm, ovate or lanceolate mucronate, leathery, glandular, hairy, ciliate with white membranous margin. Pedicels (3-)4(-5) cm, sepals dense glandular hairy, 15 mm, 20 x 6 mm in fruit, oblong with mucro 3 mm long; fertile stamens, filaments broadly expanded at base, tapering to a point, ciliate at the margin in the middle; staminodes ovate mucronate and ciliate at margin.
Fruit: Mericarp 10-) 13(-15) mm, setose clothed with yellowish white shiny stiff hairs, the hairs arising from pockets, mericarp tapering to a fine stipe recurved onto the adaxial side. Pits of mericarp glandular hairy; rostrum 8 cm long, thickly aristate clothed with stiff brown unequal hairs, twisted at the base.
Distribution: endemic to Iran, between Abuschir and Shiras.
Notes: close to Erodium ciconium. Described by El-Oqlar from a specimen at Kew, without flowers, so flower colour is unknown, but possibly blue?
