Scientific Family
Geraniaceae
Other common names
heron-bill
alfilaria
clocks
redstem stork's bill
pin-clover
Plant type
Forbs and Subshrubs
Origin
Introduced
Lifecycle
Biennial or annual
Height
Prostrate to 20 inches
Riparian
No
Ground hugging fern-like foliage with pinkish-violet flowers. Ripening seed pod resembles a heron's beak.
Annual, biennial, slender trailing glandular-hairy stems. Leaves basal and opposite, pinnate, longer than wide; leaflets pinnatifid. Sepals 1 to 3, short white bristles. Flowers pink to lavender. Fruits have 5 hairy, single-seeded sharp-beaked segments.
Habitat
Found in disturbed, often dry places.
Plant Community
Disturbed Areas
Low elevation
0
High elevation
7200
Flower Characteristics
Pinkish-purple, with 5 petals, to 1/4 inch wide, in loose rounded clusters.
Flower color
Pinkish-purple
Flower shape
Regular
Tubular
No
First bloom month
February
Last bloom month
July
Flower clusters
Rounded
Leaf and Stem Characteristics
When flowers first appear the leaves are mostly basal and fern-like; stems diffusely branch during the growing season with leaves opposite and also fern-like. Plant can overwinter as a basal rosette.
Leaf type
Compound
Leaf color
Green
Leaf shape
Pinnatifid
Leaf margin
Dissected
Leaves clasp
No
Leaf hairs
Leaves & stems
Spines
No
Fruit and Seed Characteristics
5 hairy, single-seeded, nut-like segments formed per flower.
Fruit type
Other
Fruit color
Green to brown
The seeds form coiled appendages. When there's moisture, the appendages uncoil pushing the seed into the soil.