Family |
Geraniaceae
Erodium moschatum
(L.) L'Hér.
Erodium moschatum (Burm.f.) L'Hér.
(First published in W.Aiton, Hortus Kew. 2: 414 (1789); Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, Pl. CLXXXIV nº 1; 1970, syn. Geranium moschatum Burm.f.)
• Life-form & habit : Annual or biennial herb, strongly hirsute, 10–50 cm tall; stems prostrate to ascending, often robust and musky-scented when bruised.
• Leaves : Radical leaves pinnatisect, divided into broad ovate segments that are incised-dentate or deeply serrate; cauline leaves shorter.
• Inflorescence & flowers : Peduncles up to 20 cm long, glandular near the apex, bearing 6–13 flowers; sepals obovate, with a mucro about 1 mm long; petals unequal, obovate, 7–8 mm long, about 2–2.5 times longer than the sepals, pink tending to violet.
• Fruit : Fruit 2–4 cm long; carpels with a pit surrounded by a groove.
• Phenology : Flowers from February to April.
• Habitat & elevation : Roadsides, abandoned ground and steppes; in Lebanon mainly coastal to lower mountain and Mediterranean continental localities.
• Lebanese distribution : Recorded by Mouterde from Beyrouth, Kfar Chima, Chiyah, Nahr-el-Kelb, Tripoli, Chemlan and Hasbani.
• Native range : Albania, Algeria, Azores, Baleares, Canary Is., Corse, Cyprus, East Aegean Is., Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, France, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Kriti, Lebanon-Syria, Libya, Madeira, Morocco, Netherlands, NW. Balkan Pen., Palestine, Portugal, Sardegna, Saudi Arabia, Sicilia, Sinai, Spain, Tunisia, Türkiye, Türkiye-in-Europe.
• Introduced range : Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Arizona, Austria, Baltic States, Belgium, Bolivia, California, Cape Provinces, Chatham Is., Chile Central, Chile North, Chile South, Colombia, Connecticut, Czechia-Slovakia, Delaware, Ecuador, Florida, Germany, Great Britain, Guatemala, Hungary, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Maine, Massachusetts, Mexican Pacific Is., Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southwest, New Jersey, New South Wales, New York, New Zealand North, New Zealand South, Norfolk Is., Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Peru, Queensland, Québec, South Australia, South Carolina, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tasmania, Uruguay, Venezuela, Vermont, Victoria, Washington, Western Australia.
• Diagnostic remarks : Distinguished from Erodium malacoides by its pinnatisect leaves with broad ovate incised-dentate segments, longer peduncles bearing more numerous flowers, larger unequal petals 7–8 mm long, and its characteristic musky scent. Mouterde also recognized subsp. deserti Eig from the Syrian desert, with smaller, more deeply divided leaf segments, white pubescence, smaller petals 5–6 mm long, and a more desertic distribution.