Erodium ciconium (L. & Jusl.) L'Hér.

Family: GERANIACEAE

Genus: Erodium

Catalan common name: Agulles. Bec de cigonya. Herba d'almesc. Rellotges.

Spanish common name: Agujas de pastor. Pico de cigüeña.

Province distribution: Alacant. Balearic Islands. Barcelona. Castelló. Girona. Lleida. Tarragona. València.

Distribution in the islands: Mallorca. Ibiza.

General distribution (Phytogeography): Mediterranean

IUCN Category: LCLeast concern

Flowering time: JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Life-forms: Terophyte.

Habitats: Cultivated fields, path and road sides, disturbed zones. Cultivated fields and road sides.

Characteristics: Within the species generically named clocks this is the one which has the longest fruit, actually for this reason it is also known as stork?s bill. It has greatly divided leaves with irregular lobes, some large and other, smaller ones, in between. The flowers have five petals and are bluish; the shape of the petals is also irregular: the two top ones are wider than the three bottom ones. It lives in fields and along path-sides, it is not very frequent. It can be easily distinguished from other species of Geraniaceae by the size of the fruit bill and the colour of the flower: bluish instead of pinkish or reddish like the rest.