578 



MANUAL OF POISONOUS PLANTS 



Fig. 318. Cultivated Geianium (Pelar- 

 gonium zonale). 1, 4, Flower; b, c, d, 

 Stamens; a, Stigmas. 



frequently entering the flesh and in some cases this mechanical injury has pro- 

 duced death in sheep, just as in the case of Stipa. The Geranium Robertianum 

 has a disagreeable bitter taste. 



Erodium L'Her. Storksbill 



Herbs with opposite or alternate stipulate leaves; flowers nearly regular, 

 axillary or umbellate; sepals S, imbricated; petals 5, hypogynous, the upper 

 slightly smaller; glands of the disk S, alternate with the petals; stamens 10; 

 anther bearing 5, and as many sterile filaments ; ovary deeply S-lobed and S- 

 celled, beaked by the united styles, 5 in number; lobes of the capsule 1-seeded; 

 the style when mature breaks away elastically and is coiled spirally; tails of 

 carpels hairy on the inside; seeds not reticulated. The 65 species found in tem- 

 perate and warm regions. Some species have become widely distributed because 

 the seeds cling to the fleece of animals. Some species are troublesome in 

 western United States. 



Erodium cicutarium L'Her. Alfilaria or Storksbill 



A hairy, tufted anntial with low spreading stems; plant viscid or sticky; 

 leaves pinnate or once to twice pinnatifid; flowers in umbel-like clusters, purple 

 ■or pink; fruit hairy on the inside and spirally twisted when ripe. The B. 

 inoschatum is a stouter plant which occurs occasionally eastward. 



Distribution. This plant is common upon the Pacific Coast especially 

 California, occurring in grain fields and waste places. It is also abundant in 

 dry soils in the Salt I^ke basin and from Colorado to Texas ; occasionally found 

 in the eastern states and Manitoba. Native to the Old World. The weed is 

 commonly scattered by animals. It is injurious to wool. 



