Erodium is a genus of the botanical

Botany

Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...

 family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 Geraniaceae

Geraniaceae

Geraniaceae is a family of flowering plants placed in the order Geraniales. The family name is derived from the genus Geranium. It includes both the genus Geranium and the garden plants called geraniums, which modern botany classifies as genus Pelargonium, along with other related genera.There are...

. The genus includes about 60 species, for the most part originating in the Mediterranean or Western Asian regions. American

Americas

The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...

 species are known as filarees or heron's bill, Eurasian ones are usually called storksbills.

Carl Linnaeus grouped in the same genus (Geranium) the three similar genera Erodium, Geranium, and Pelargonium

Pelargonium

Pelargonium is a genus of flowering plants which includes about 200 species of perennials, succulents, and shrubs, commonly known as scented geraniums or storksbills. Confusingly, Geranium is the correct botanical name of a separate genus of related plants often called Cranesbills. Both Geranium...

. The distinction between them was made by Charles Louis L'Héritier de Brutelle

Charles Louis L'Héritier de Brutelle

Charles Louis L'Héritier de Brutelle was an 18th century French botanist and magistrate. Born into an affluent upper-class Parisian family, connections with the French Royal Court secured him the position of Superindent of Parisian Waters and Forests at the age of twenty-six...

 based on the number of stamen

Stamen

The stamen is the pollen producing reproductive organ of a flower...

s or anthers: five for Erodium, seven for Pelargonium, and ten for Geranium. However, the three genera have the same characteristics in regard to their fruit, which resemble long bird beaks. That characteristic is the basis for the names: Geranium evokes the crane (Greek geranos), Pelargonium the stork (pelargos) and Erodium the heron (erodios).

Erodium species are used as food plants by the larva

Larva

A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...

e of some Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera is a large order of insects that includes moths and butterflies . It is one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies...

 species including Pasture Day Moth

Pasture Day Moth

The Pasture Day Moth, Apina callisto , is a species in the Noctuidae family of moths which is, as its name implies, active during the day, making it unlike most other species in the Noctuidae family...

.

Species

• Erodium acaule (L.) Bech. & Thell.
• Erodium aethiopicum (Lam.) Brumh. & Thell.
• Erodium botrys
  Erodium botrys
  Erodium botrys is a species of flowering plant in the geranium family known by the common names long-beaked stork's bill and broadleaf filaree. This is a weedy annual herb which is native to much of Eurasia and North Africa but is found in many other areas of the world as an introduced species,...
  
  (Cav.) Bertol.
• Erodium brachycarpum
  Erodium brachycarpum
  Erodium brachycarpum is a species of flowering plant in the geranium family known by the common name shortfruit stork's bill. It is native to southern Europe but it is known elsewhere as an introduced species and often a weed, such as the west coast of the United States where it is widespread in...
  
  (Godr.) Thell.
• Erodium chium (L.) Willd.
• Erodium ciconium (L.) L’Hér.
• Erodium cicutarium
  Erodium cicutarium
  Erodium cicutarium, also known as Redstem filaree, Common Stork's-bill, is an herbaceous annual, and in warm climates a biennial member of the Geranium Family of flowering plants...
  
  (L.) L’Hér.
• Erodium corsicum Léman
• Erodium chrysantum L'Hér. ex DC.
• Erodium crispum Lapeyr.
• Erodium cygnorum
  Erodium cygnorum
  Erodium cygnorum is a species of herb native to Australia.It is commonly known as Blue Heronsbill in Western Australia, and Blue Storksbill in South Australia...
  
  Nees
• Erodium foetidum (L.) L'Hér.
• Erodium glandulosum (Cav.) Willd.
• Erodium hoefftianum C. A. Meyer
• Erodium laciniatum (Cav.) Willd.
• Erodium lebelii Jord.
• Erodium macrophyllum
  Erodium macrophyllum
  Erodium macrophyllum is a species of flowering plant in the geranium family known by the common name roundleaf stork's bill. It is native the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, where it grows in open habitat such as grassland and scrub...
  
  Hook. & Arn.
• Erodium malacoides
  Erodium malacoides
  Erodium malacoides is a species of flowering plant in the geranium family known by the common names Mediterranean stork's bill and oval heron's bill. This is a weedy annual or biennial herb which is native to much of Eurasia and North Africa but can be found on most continents where it is an...
  
  (L.) L’Hér.
• Erodium manescavii Coss.
• Erodium maritimum (L.) L’Hér.
• Erodium moschatum
  Erodium moschatum
  Erodium moschatum is a species of flowering plant in the geranium family known by the common names musky stork's bill and whitestem filaree. This is a weedy annual or biennial herb which is native to much of Eurasia and North Africa but can be found on most continents where it is an introduced...
  
  (L.) L’Hér.
• Erodium mouretii Pitard.
• Erodium reichardii
• Erodium rodiei (Braun-Blanq.) Poirion
• Erodium salzmannii Delile
• Erodium texanum
  Erodium texanum
  Erodium texanum, also known as Texas Filaree, Texas Stork's Bill, or Heronbill, is a flowering plant which is native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. It is an annual or biennial herb.-External links:*...
  
  A. Gray