VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Erodium cicutarium | Cutleaf Filaree 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
Cutleaf filaree provides seasonal forage for rodents, desert tortoise,
big game animals, and livestock [4,5,32,24,51].  The seeds are eaten by
upland game birds, songbirds, and rodents [14,30,39].


PALATABILITY : 
The relish and degree of use shown by livestock and wildlife species for
cutleaf filaree in California and Utah is rated as follows [14,42,51]:

                                 CA       UT
        Cattle                  good     fair
        Sheep                   good     good
        Horses                  ----     fair
        Pronghorn               ----     good
        Elk                     ----     good
        Mule deer               good     good
        Small mammals           good     fair
        Small nongame birds     ----     fair
        Waterfowl               ----     poor

Cutleaf filaree seeds are highly palatable to rodents [30].  


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
The food value of flowering cutleaf filaree in central Arizona is as
follows [46]:

                         Percent Composition              

                          protein     17.10             
                          fiber       17.80              
                          calcium      2.54               
                          phosphorus   0.51               
                          potassium    3.56

The digestability of cutleaf filaree for several animal species is rated
as follows [36]:

                          Percent Digestability

                         white-tailed deer   40.0
                         cattle              12.4
                         domestic goats      12.5
                         horses              12.0
                         domestic rabbits    11.9
                         domestic sheep      12.9
                                                        
The seeds provide 5,505 calories per gram, or 8.92 calories per seed [40].


COVER VALUE : 
Cutleaf filaree generally provides poor cover [14].  One ecotype in
Glenville, California, forms basal rosettes 16 inches (40 cm) in
diameter, providing fair to good cover for small birds and mammals [28].


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
NO-ENTRY


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
The presence or absence of cutleaf filaree pollen in fossil records,
sediment lakebeds, and artifacts has been used as a dating technique in
paleobotany and archeology [12,16].  Cutleaf filaree was one of the
first exotics to invade North America.  It was appaerently introduced in
California during the early 1700's by passing Spanish explorers [51].


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Range:  Cutleaf filaree is important forage for cattle, horses, and
domestic sheep in California, Nevada, and Arizona [47].  Annual yields
vary depending upon soil moisture.  Talbot and others [43] found that
cover of cutleaf filaree in a Tehema County, California range fluctuated
from 70 percent in 1934 to 30 percent in 1935, a drought year.  Other
factors also affect the availability of cutleaf filaree.  The plant is
sensitive to airborne pollutants, especially sulfur dioxide, which
causes extensive leaf and stem burn.  Cutleaf filaree yields are reduced
on some southern California and western Arizona ranges due to this
problem [44].  Otherwise, cutleaf filaree has excellent range
durability.  The plant is resilient under heavy grazing pressure.  When
developing fruits are consumed by stock, the plant rapidly grows short,
prostrate stems that produce new fruits.  These new stems and fruits are
relatively inaccessible to stock, especially horses and cattle [22].
When most of the cutleaf filaree within a range assumes this growth
form, the range is overgrazed.

Related categories for Species: Erodium cicutarium | Cutleaf Filaree