Erodium
Erodium is a genus of flowering plants in the botanical family Geraniaceae. The genus includes about 60 species, native to North Africa, Indomalaya, the Middle East, and Australia. They are perennials, annuals, or subshrubs, with five-petalled flowers in shades of white, pink, and purple, that strongly resemble the better-known "Geranium" (cranesbill). Cultivated plants are known as filarees or heron's bill in North America, whereas in the British Isles they are usually called storksbills. Taxonomy. Carl Linnaeus grouped in the same genus ("Geranium"), the three similar genera "Erodium", "Geranium", and "Pelargonium". The distinction between them was made  by Charles Louis L'Héritier de Brutelle based on the number of stamens 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"). Cultivation. In cultivation, erodiums are usually seen in rockeries or alpine gardens. The hybrid cultivar "E." × "variabile" 'Roseum' ("E. corsicum" × "E. reichardii"), a compact, spreading perennial with rose-pink flowers in summer, has  gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. Ecology. "Erodium" species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including the pasture day moth. Species. , the "World Checklist of Selected Plant Families" accepts 119 species: Hybrids include: Uses. Species such as "E. cicutarium" and "E. moschatum" are edible.