Erodium cicutarium (L.) L'Hér. ex Aiton, Geraniaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: qin ye mang niu er miao

English: alfilaria, California filaree, cutleaf filaree, filaree, heron's-bill, pin clover, red-stem filaree, red-stem stork's-bill, stork's-bill

Spanish: alfilerillo, tachuela

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Annual, at first stemless, later usually with 1 or more hairy stems; plant extremely variable in size, from prostrate to c. 50 cm high and c. 75 cm wide, not musk-scented. Leaves to c. 15 cm long, pinnate, hairy, sometimes densely so, sometimes glandular; petiole longer in rosette and lower cauline leaves. Leaflets sessile, ovate, deeply and finely pinnately dissected with linear to lanceolate lobes, often densely covered in white hairs. Stipules triangular, often broad, membranous, ciliate, silvery; midrib green, forming an acute or mucronate apex. Umbels (2)-5-12-flowered; bracts broad-ovate, membranous, with green keeled midrib forming an acute to short-acuminate apex. Peduncles densely covered in glandular hairs, often > upper cauline leaves; pedicels ± = calyx at anthesis. Sepals (2.5)-3-5 mm long at anthesis, lanceolate, hirsute or glandular, mucronate. Petals 4-6 mm long, elliptic or oblong-elliptic, usually pink or mauve-pink, rarely white; claw short, hairy. Stamens c. 3 mm long; filaments widened at base, without lateral teeth, usually pinkish; anthers dark purple. Staminodes narrow-lanceolate. Fruit beak 3-3.5 cm long, with appressed hairs. Mericarps densely hirsute with hairs of differing lengths; apical pits eglandular, with a prominent shallow glabrous furrow beneath"  (Webb et al., 1988; p. 724)

"Annual herbs; stems decumbent, slender, 1-5 dm long, strigillose and glandular pubescent.  Leaves pinnately compound, 3-10 cm long, leaflets pinnatifid, stipules lanceolate.  Peduncles 50-150 mm long, pedicels 8-18 mm long; sepals 2-6 mm long, apex mucronate, with 1-2 white bristles; petals rose lavender, 5-7 mm long; stylar column 2-5 cm long.  Carpel bodies 4-5 mm long, stiffly pubescent, the apical portion glabrous.  Seed dull brown, ellipsoid, 2-3 mm long"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 727).

Habitat/ecology:  "Grass- and woodland, dry open forests, shrubland, disturbed sites.  A native of warm, dry and ruderal places whose establishment is facilitated by disturbances.  Plants are extremely variable in size and shape.  Once established, it forms dense stands that eliminate native vegetation and successfully compete with native grasses and forbs"  (Weber, 2003; p. 160).

In Hawai‘i, "naturalized in relatively dry, disturbed sites, 0-3,100 m"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 728).  "In Chile this species grows in the following environmental conditions:  Low altitude, interior valleys; coastal mountains, 500-2000 m; coastal areas, 0-500 m.  Humid areas, with almost constant rainfall, short dry periods are possible (generally not longer than 1 month); somewhat dry areas where the drought may last 3-5 months, precipitations of 400-800 mm. are concentrated in winter; dry, arid areas, with long drought periods of 6-10 months, precipitations of 100 mm-300 mm. are concentrated in winter.  Fully exposed to the sun, level areas or slopes facing north"  (Chileflora).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  "Native to the Mediterranean region, now widely naturalized"  (Wagner et al., 1999; pp. 727-728).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced	Skottsberg, Carl (1953) (p. 220)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced invasive	Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John (2011)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced invasive	Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido (2006) (p. 553)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más Afuera (Alejandro Selkirk Island)	introduced	Skottsberg, Carl (1953) (p. 220)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más Afuera (Alejandro Selkirk Island)	introduced invasive	Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John (2011)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más Afuera (Alejandro Selkirk Island)	introduced invasive	Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido (2006) (p. 553)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Santa Clara	introduced	Skottsberg, Carl (1953) (p. 220)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Santa Clara	introduced invasive	Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John (2011)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Santa Clara	introduced invasive	Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido (2006) (p. 553)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Morro El Verdugo	introduced invasive	Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido (2006) (p. 553)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Morro Juanango	introduced invasive	Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido (2006) (p. 553)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 727-728)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 727-728)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Lāna‘i Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 727-728)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 727-728)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Moloka‘i Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 727-728)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 727-728)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Australia (continental)	introduced invasive	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Chile (continental) Chile	Chile (Republic of)	introduced invasive	Belov, Michail (2011)
China China	China (People's Republic of)		Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011) Meadows, flood plains, gravel areas, disturbed areas; 700-2200 m. Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Jiangsu, Jilin, Liao-ning, Nei Mongol, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, W. Sichuan, Xinjiang, W. Xizang.
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	introduced	Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro (2004) (p. 185) var. cicutarium and var. pimpinellifolium Smith
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	introduced invasive	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive	Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. (1988) (p. 724) "Roadsides, waste places, building sites, railways, riverbeds, cultivated ground, lawns, poor and dry pastures to over 1000 m".
Taiwan Taiwan	Taiwan Island		Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011)

Control: 

Physical:  Hand pull or cut.

Chemical:  Large patches can be treated with herbicide  (Weber, 2003; p. 160).

Additional information:
Information from the Global Invasive Species Database.
Information from the Fire Effects Information System.
Photos and other information from Chileflora.

Additional online information about Erodium cicutarium is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Erodium cicutarium as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Erodium cicutarium may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John. 2011. Naturalized species in the Juan Fernández Archipelago, Chile. Unpublished spreadsheet.

Belov, Michail. 2011. Chileflora (online resource).

Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido. 2006. Nouveau catalogue de la flore vaculaire de l'archipel Juan Fernández (Chile) [Nuevo catálogo de la flora vacular del Archipélago Juan Fernández (Chile)]. Acta Bot. Gallica 153(4):399-587.

Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. 1979. A geographical atlas of world weeds. John Wiley & Sons, New York. 391 pp.

Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro. 2004. Invasive alien species in Japan: the status quo and the new regulation for prevention of their adverse effects. Global Environmental Research 8(2)/2004: 171-191.

Skottsberg, Carl. 1953. The natural history of Juan Fernandez and Easter Island. Vol. II, Botany. Almqvist &l; Wiksells, Uppsala. 960 pp.

U. S. Government. 2011. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) (on-line resource).

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. 1999. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawaii. Revised edition. Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication. University of Hawai‘i Press/Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 1919 pp. (two volumes).

Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. 1988. Flora of New Zealand, Volume IV: Naturalised pteridophytes, gymnosperms, dicotyledons. Botany Division, DSIR, Christchurch. 1365 pp.

Weber, Ewald. 2003. Invasive plants of the World. CABI Publishing, CAB International, Wallingford, UK. 548 pp.

Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong. 2011. Flora of China (online resource).