When we drove on Glendora Mountain Road on February 19, 2023, we saw these small (10 to 15 mm across) pink/deep lavender wildflowers, common stork’s-bill, by the road. Each common stork’s-bill’s bloom has 5 petals, 5 stamens with anthers, and 5 styles. After the flowers are pollinated, a long, pointed fruit develops, encasing the 5 persistent styles which adhere together to form the stork's slender, pointed bill, 2.5 to 5 cm long. That is where this plant's common name "Stork's Bill” comes from. It is native to Macaronesia, temperate Eurasia and north and northeast Africa, and was introduced to North America in the eighteenth century.
2023年2月19日，當我們去格倫多拉山路 (Glendora Mountain Road) 逛逛時，我們在路邊看到了這些小的粉紅色/深紫色野花（花的直徑10到15公釐），即芹葉牻牛兒苗。每個芹葉牻牛兒苗的花有5個花瓣、5個帶花藥的雄蕊和5個花柱。花授粉後，會長出長而尖的果實，包裹著5個花柱，這些花柱粘在一起形成2.5至5公分長的細長尖嘴。這就是這種植物的俗名的來源。原產於馬卡羅尼西亞、溫帶歐亞大陸以及非洲北部和東北部，於18世紀被移植到北美洲。
Notes 筆記
- Common stork's-bill, also known as redstem filaree, redstem stork's bill or pinweed, is a herbaceous annual – or in warm climates, biennial. It is a member of the family Geraniaceae of flowering plants.
- It is native to Macaronesia, temperate Eurasia and north and northeast Africa, and was introduced to North America in the eighteenth century, where it has since become naturalized, particularly of the deserts and arid grasslands of the southwestern United States.
- The stems are reddish and bear bright pink flowers, which often have dark spots on the bases. The flowers are arranged in a loose cluster. The leaves are pinnate to pinnate-pinnatifid, with hairy stems. The long seed-pod, shaped like the bill of a stork.
- The young leaves are edible raw or cooked. The pink flowers are a valuable source of honey (nectar), and also furnish much pollen.
- Among the Zuni people, a poultice of chewed root is applied to sores and rashes and an infusion of the root is taken for stomach ache.
- 芹葉牻牛兒苗，也被稱為紅莖菲拉雷 (redstem filaree)、紅莖牻牛兒苗或針草 (pinweed)，它是一年生草本植物，在溫暖的氣候是兩年生。屬開花植物牻牛兒苗科。
- 原產於馬卡羅尼西亞 (Macaronesia)、溫帶歐亞大陸以及非洲北部和東北部，於18世紀被移植到北美洲，特別是在美國西南部的沙漠和乾旱草原。
- 它的莖是紅色的，有鮮豔的粉紅色花朵，底部通常有黑點。花朵排列成鬆散的簇狀。葉子羽狀到半裂羽狀，有毛莖。 長長的種子莢，形狀像鸛的嘴。
- 嫩葉可生食或煮熟食用。粉紅色的花朵是蜂蜜（花蜜）的來源，也有很多花粉。
- 祖尼人 (Zuni) 將咀嚼的根製成膏藥用來治療瘡和皮疹，將根泡熱水來治療胃痛。
References 參考資料
- Wikipedia: Erodium cicutarium
- University of Colorado: Stork's bill seeds plant themselves
- 百度百科: 芹叶牻牛儿苗
Plants Posts 植物的帖子