BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Erodium cicutarium | Cutleaf Filaree 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Cutleaf filaree is an exotic forb that may be cool- or warm-season,
depending on climate [35,46].  The leaves of young plants form a basal
rosette.  Older leaves grow up to 12 inches (30 cm) long, becoming
decumbent to prostrate.  The persistent styles of this plant are 1 to 2
inches (2.5-5 cm) long and coil together at maturity, enveloping the
fruit at the base.  The fruit is a sharp-pointed, narrow capsule.  The
slender taproot is about 3 inches (8 cm) long [16,37,47].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Therophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Cutleaf filaree reproduces sexually [35,47].  Germination is triggered
by seasonal rains and soil temperatures that range between approximately
69 degrees Fahrenreit (21 deg C) during the day to 40 degrees Fahrenreit
(4 deg C) at night [23].  Light rains result in lower germination rates
than heavier rains [5].  When moist, the coiled styles enveloping the
seed expand, uncoil, and drive the arrow-shaped fruit into the ground
[16].  Seed can be driven as deep as 1 inch (2.5 cm), although seed
buried less deeply is more likely to germinate [52].  Young and others
[52] report an average germination success rate of 14 percent.  Plants
are sexually mature 2 to 4 months following germination [19].  Seed
either falls beneath the parent plant or is disseminated by animals.
Rodents frequently bury cutleaf filaree seed in a food cache where
uncomsumed seed later germinates [30].  Seed also catches on animal fur
and is disseminated in that manner [16].  Seeds of Erodium spp. can
remain viable for many years, and form extensive seed banks [9].


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Cutleaf filaree occupies a variety of different sites.  Site
characteristics are as follows:

Soil:  Cutleaf filaree grows in well-drained, clayey, loamy, or sandy
soil.  Variations in soil pH have been reported from moderately acid in
Tehema County, California to moderately alkaline in the Great Basin area
of central Utah [5,7].

Climate:  Native to the Mediterranean area, cutleaf filaree flourishes in
the semiarid climate of the Southwest and the Mediterranean climate of
California [47].  It will tolerate a broad range of climates, however,
including the tropical climate of Hawaii and the cold, rainy climate of
the Pacific Northwest.  Cutleaf filaree can grow in areas that
experience harsh, snowy winters because its short growing period allows
it to complete its life cycle before the onset of freezing weather
[18,21].

Elevation:  Cutleaf filaree occurs below 7,000 feet (2,134 m) [26].

Associated species:  The associated species of cutleaf filaree are too
numerous to list because of its global distribution.  Since cutleaf
filaree is mainly of intrest as a range plant, the associated range
species of cutleaf filaree in several western states are listed as
follows:

Arizona:  Saltbush (Atriplex polycarpa and A. lentiformis), mustard
(Cruciferae ssp.), foxtail chess (Bromus rubens), Mediterranean schismus
(Schismum barbatus), canyon grape (Vitis arizonica), blue palo verde
(Cercidium floridum) [8,48].

California:  Slender oat (Avena barbata), ripgut brome (B. rigidus),
littlehead clover (Trifolium microcephalum), early filaree (Erodium
obtusiplicatum) [6,48].

Idaho:  St. Johnswort (Hypericum perforatum), downy brome (B.
tectorum), quake-grass (B. brizaeformis), foxtail fescue (Festuca
megalura), western yarrow (Achillea millefolium), bigflower agosersis
(Agosersis grandiflora), spur lupine (Lupinus laziflorus), autumn
willow-weed (Epilobium paniculatum) [43,48].

Nevada:  Turpentine broom (Thamnosma montana), desert bitterbrush
(Purshia glandulosa), blackbrush (Coleogyne ramosissima), foxtail chess,
California buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum), desert needlegrass (Stipa
speciosa) [1,48].


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Obligate Initial Community Species

Cutleaf filaree is a pioneer on disturbed sites.  Wagner and others [50]
reported that cutleaf filaree seedlings were the first to emerge on
lands strip-mined for coal in New Mexico.  Cutleaf filaree may have been
an initial colonizer in open areas of the Mojave Desert [51].  It is
also a residual or a secondary colonizer, since seedlings can either
establish from on-site seed or from seed carried in by animals [16].  In
annual grassland communities, cutleaf filaree is an early- to mid-seral
stage plant, being intolerant of the mulch layer that builds up in older
communities [4].  Cutleaf filaree is replaced in annual grasslands by
ripgut brome and slender wild oat.  Cutleaf filaree will tolerate
partial shade, but vigor is reduced [2].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Seasonal development of cutleaf filaree varies depending upon climate.
Plant germinate in late fall in California, Nevada, and Arizona but
not start until midsummer of the following year in cold climates [5].
Plants in warm climates grow vigorously until winter, when growth slows.
Vigorous growth resumes in the spring.  In cold climates, growth is
continuous from spring or summer until plant death in early fall [47].
Gordon and Sampson [18] reported the following developmental data for
cutleaf filaree in O'Neal, California:

                       germination - November
                       early leaf stage - December
                       flowers in bloom - March
                       seeds ripe - May
                       seeds disseminated - June
                       plant death - June                          

Related categories for Species: Erodium cicutarium | Cutleaf Filaree