Erodium trifolium (Cav.) Cav.
Clade II; Subclade 4; Section Malacoidea; Subsection Malacoidea
Erodium trifolium is a perennial; stems to 35cm, thick and swollen.
Leaves: leaves hairy, ovate to triangular, usually deeply 3-lobed but juvenile leaves entire, crenate.
Inflorescence: annual stems ramble to 35cm, carrying axillary umbels of 4-11 flowers; petals white, rounded, not overlapping, upper 2 with a small blotch above the base, composed of purple-brown oval spots; staminodes purple; stamen filaments purple; anthers purple; pollen orange; stigmas purple.
Fruit: Beak 3-3.5cm; mericarp foveole large, with a fold beneath, foveole with capitate glands which often look collapsed at x100. 2n=
Distribution: endemic to Africa – Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia.
Notes: often incorrectly sold as E. pelargoniiflorum. Differs from E.pelargoniiflorum by: the sepals here not needle tipped, the leaves are hairy, the blotch has one colour, the stems are whitish not black. Prof. Guittoneau has determined that these 2 species are ecological duplicates, but not identical species as they are quite inter-sterile. Next to each other they look quite different. E. trifolium is from North Africa, E. pelargoniflorum is from Turkey; E. trifolium is from subsection Malacoidea, while E. pelargoniflorum is closely related to Clade I, Subclade2: (sub)section Absinthoidea.
