Israel wildflowers: Cut-leaved Cranesbill

Erodium laciniatum, Cutleaf Stork’s Bill,
Hebrew: מקור-חסידה מפוצל, Arabic: الرقمة المشرشرة


Scientific name:		Erodium laciniatum (Cav.) Willd.
Common name:		Cut-leaved Cranesbill, Cutleaf Stork’s Bill
Hebrew name:		מקור-חסידה מפוצל
Arabic name:		الرقمة المشرشرة
Plant Family:		Geraniaceae, גרניים

_{Location: Bene Zion Nature Reserve}


Life form:		Therophyte, annual
Stems:		To about 30 cm long; ascending or procumbent
Leaves:		Alternate, dissected twice or more, compound, pinnate, dentate or serrate
Inflorescence:		Umbels with 3-8 flowers each
Flowers:		Bracts suborbicular, glabrous to membranous; sepals awn 1-1.5 mm long; petals c. 2 times the size of sepals, pink, purple
Fruits / pods:		Achenes, two pits at the base; fruit beaks 30-45 mm long
Flowering Period:		March, April
Habitat:		Sand
Distribution:		Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes, Deserts and extreme deserts
Chorotype:		Mediterranean
Summer shedding:		Ephemeral

_{Location: Bene Zion Nature Reserve}
Derivation of the botanical name:

Erodium, Greek: erodiós or ερωδιός, a heron; the carpels of these plants resemble the head and beak of a heron.

laciniatum, lacinia, lit. flap of garment; atus, possessive of or likeness of something (with, shaped, made); slashed into narrow divisions with taper-pointed incisions.
The Hebrew word: מקור-חסידה, makor chasida / stork beak, is a mistake in the translation (chasida means stork). In Greek, the stork is called Πελασγός pelargos, pelargonium.

The standard author abbreviation Cav. is used to indicate Antonio José Cavanilles (1745 – 1804), a Spanish taxonomic botanist.
The standard author abbreviation Willd. is used to indicate Carl Ludwig von Willdenow (1765 – 1812), German botanist, pharmacist, and plant taxonomist.

Erodium laciniatum has a pit at the top of the mericarp.

_{Location: Tel Michal, Herzliya}