FILAREE (Erodium cicutarium, L'Her.). Flowers magenta, 

 about \ inch across in few-flowered umbels topping slender 

 footstalks that rise from a rosette of pinnate leaves 6 inches 

 long or so, with many deeply cut leaflets. Blooming from 

 January to June in valleys and on the foothills throughout 

 California and eastward to the Rocky Mountains. 



Filaree is one of the most valued of Far Western forage 

 plants, and carpets the ground in places like turf. It is be- 

 lieved by most botanists to be an introduction from the Old 

 World, where it is a common weed, but if so it was an early 

 immigrant; for 70 years ago, when California was still very wild, 

 Fremont reported it in abundance in the northern part of the 

 state. The queer common name is an American corruption 

 of the Spanish alfilerilla (pronounced in California alfileree' ya) 

 meaning little pin; from the resemblance of the long-beaked 

 seed vessels to that useful article. WTien dry these long beaks 

 separate into 5 slender divisions which are the styles, and, 

 subtended by the brown seeds, twist about in a way entertain- 

 ing to the childlike mind of all ages, suggesting the hands of a 

 clock on its travels, particularly when the seed is set on end 

 upon one's clothing; whence another common name, "Clocks." 



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