[Illustration: Erodium texanum
Erodium cicutarium]
Common names: FILEREE OR FILAREE, HERONBILL, (_ALFILERIA_)
Arizona and Texas deserts: (_Erodium texanum_). Pink-violet.
February-March.
California desert. (_Erodium cicutarium_). Rose-violet.
February-March.
Geranium family. Size: 3 to 12 inches high.
Believed to have been introduced from the Mediterranean countries at an
early date by the Spaniards, _Alfileria_ is now widespread and
extensively naturalized throughout the Southwest. In the desert, it is
one of the common winter annuals and furnishes excellent spring forage
especially following moist winters. The plants remain green for only a
few weeks, but are good forage even after the stems have dried.
Although the blossoms are not large nor sufficiently numerous to make a
colorful display, they are attractive and welcome, as they are among the
first spring flowers to put in an appearance. “Tails” of the fruits are
long and slender, somewhat resembling a Heron’s bill, and upon maturity
twist into a tight spiral when dry. Upon becoming moist, they uncoil,
driving the sharp-tipped seeds into the soil. Seeds are gathered and
stored by Ants which discard the husks and coiled “tails” outside their
nests, thus building up a circular band of chaff around the Ant-hill.