Erodium cicutarium

Common Heron (Erodium cicutarium )

The Common Heron (Erodium cicutarium ), often called Schierlingsblättriger heron beak, belonging to the genus heron beaks within the family of Geranium Family ( Geraniaceae ). Often the families of Dune filaree (E. ballii ) and Danish filaree (E. danicum ) separated, their taxonomic rank is uncertain. They differ in the number of flowers per inflorescence and the length of the fruit beaks and the part of fruits.

Features

The Ordinary filaree is a one-to two -year, rarely perennial, herbaceous plant. The plant grows initially in a flat-out leaf rosette, later decumbent to erect and almost reaches stature heights between 10 and 40, sometimes 60 centimeters. The stems are hairy and glandular hardly. The leaves are pinnately lobed to the midrib. The leaflets themselves are divided again and wear narrow, pointed tip.

The flowers are about two to ten stalked in long, doldigen inflorescences. The flower stalks and sepals are hairy with glandular and / or drüsenlos. The petals are 5-9 mm long. They are pink or purple, rarely white. The top two are often larger and sometimes wear a bright or dark spot. The flowers have five stamens and a star-shaped scar. The 25 to 40 mm long fruit beaks are at maturity heron -like neck bent back ( hence the name). The plant flowers from April to September with a peak flowering in May.

Ecology

The common heron beak is a one-to two -year rosette plant.

The flowers are gay game " Small funnel flowers "; often they are also somewhat bilaterally symmetrical and vormännlich. Most self-pollination takes place. The flowering period extends from April to September.

The fruits are long beaked by the highly elongated stylus schizocarps. The five 5-7 mm long portion fruits split off if allowed to dry with the seeds of the fruit center column. The removal of water from the source tissue causes a helical curvature of the lower section. In contact with water, the source tissue expands and the part fruit burrows under unwinding into the ground or into an animal fur, or she moves away as Bodenkriecher. Fruit ripening is from August to October.

Distribution and location

The Ordinary filaree the world and is also common in Germany. It grows along roads, in the Barrens, in vineyards and inland dunes. It grows on summer warm, moderately dry to moderately dry, moderately nutrient - and base-rich, often with little lime, a little rich, loose loam, sand and stone floors. He is a sand pointer and a pioneer plant. He prefers gappy weed corridors and dry and semi-dry grasslands.