GERANIUM FAMILY. Geraniaceae. 
A slender plant, about a foot tall, with 
Long-stalked ESE ‘ 
pe sae pinkish, hairy stems and pretty leaves, 
Geranium thin in texture, with a dull surface; the 
columbinum seed-vessels erect, with bristly beaks. 
Purple 
: The flowers grow in pairs and are less 
Spring, summer ; : . 
California, etc. than half an inch across, with hairy ca- 
lyxes and notched, purple or magenta 
petals. This is naturalized from Europe, and common in 
the East and grows along roadsides, at the edges of fields 
and woods. 
There are many kinds of Erodium, three native in the 
Southwest and several more introduced, weeds in the Old 
World and important forage plants in the West; leaves 
often unequal, with one stipule on one side and two on the 
‘other. They resemble Geranium, flower and fruit being 
nearly the same, but only five of the stamens have anthers, 
the alternate ones being scale-like, without anthers; styles 
hairy inside. The Greek name means “heron,’’ in allusion 
to the long beak of the capsule. 
Though not native, this is the common- 
Red-stem E “ : 2 “gate 
mihetod est kind, in the interior and semi-arid 
Erédium regions, and most valued for forage. 
cicutdrium When young it forms rosettes close to the 
aisas ground, but grows taller and more strag- 
All seasons ‘ ; 
Wank cee. gling. The stems are often reddish; the 
leaves somewhat hairy; the flowers small, 
in clusters of four to eight, with four bracts at the base; the 
petals purplish-pink, with darker veins, and hairy at the 
base, the two upper petals slightly smaller; the sepals tipped 
with one or two bristles. The ovary is beaked by the 
united styles, the beak, when the seeds ripen, separating 
into five, long tails, which twist spirally when dry and 
untwist when moistened. This is common west of the 
Rockies, blooming more or less all the year round, varying 
in size in different soils. Filaree is a corruption of the 
Spanish Alfilerilla, from ‘“‘alfiler,” a ‘‘pin.”” Other names 
are Pinkets, Pinclover, Storksbill, and Clocks, so-called 
by children because they amuse themselves by watching 
the tails twist about like the hands of a clock. White-stem 
Filaree, E. moschadtum, common in rich soil, has larger, 
coarser leaves and a faint scent. 
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