Erodium crinitum aka Eastern Stork's Bill

Erodium crinitum is an annual in the Geraniaceae family. Its common names include crowfoot and eastern stork's bill. It is native across mainland Australia. Records come from Queensland and New South Wales. They also come from Victoria and South Australia. Its range includes Western Australia and the Northern Territory too. Kew puts it in a subtropical climate range. It is not native to Britain or Ireland.

In the wild, it grows in grassland and woodland. It also grows in dry places, often on sandy ground. The sources give no sound height or spread figures. They give no leaf or stem details for this species. The RHS page covers the genus, not this species. Those broad traits do not show this plant's exact form. PFAF notes that flowers have both male and female organs. The evidence gives no bloom season and does not describe fruit.

PFAF lists sand, loam, and clay as soils it can use. Water must drain well from the soil. The soil should be neutral to slightly alkaline. PFAF says the plant cannot grow in shade. A site in sun thus fits this advice. Yet PFAF says it knows little about growing this plant. Its advice to use a sunny, lime-rich site is tentative. The same source says the plant prefers moist soil. This differs from the dry sites where it grows wild.

The evidence gives no hardiness zone or known frost limit. PFAF does not know if it is hardy in Britain. It lists garden beds as one place to grow it. No further evidence supports a set landscape use or showy trait. PFAF says to sow seed where the plants will grow. One time to sow is late summer, once seed ripens. It also gives late spring as a time to sow. It says seeds tend to sprout in about three weeks.

The root has a recorded use as food when cooked. PFAF gives the species a low score for food use. It lists no known uses in medicine or other uses. It reports no known hazards, but this does not prove safety. The sources name no pests or diseases. PFAF does not flag the species as weedy.