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

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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

Erodium laciniatum, Cutleaf Stork's Bill, מקור-חסידה מפוצל
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.

Erodium laciniatum, Cutleaf Stork's Bill, מקור-חסידה מפוצל
Location: Tel Michal, Herzliya