California macrophylla

California macrophylla, commonly known as roundleaf stork's bill, is a species of flowering plant in the geranium family, Geraniaceae. It was formerly placed in the genus Erodium, but was later placed in a monotypic genus of its own named California.^[2]

California macrophylla
Conservation status
Vulnerable  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Geraniales
Family:	Geraniaceae
Genus:	California Aldas, C. Navarro, P. Vargas, Ll. Sáez & Aedo
Species:	C. macrophylla
Binomial name
California macrophylla (Hook. & Arn.) Aldasoro, C. Navarro, P. Vargas, Ll. Sáez & Aedo
Synonyms
Erodium macrophyllum Hook. & Arn.

Description

It is native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, where it grows in open habitat such as grassland and scrub. It is an annual herb that grows only a few centimeters high (1 inch), forming a patch of slightly lobed, somewhat kidney-shaped to rounded leaves on long, slender petioles. Leaves are green dorsally and purple ventrally, often developing clear red veins once the leaves mature. The inflorescence is a fragile umbel of flowers with petals around a centimeter long (0.4 in) and white in color, often tinted pinkish or purplish. Petals break off easily and flowers rarely stay pristine for more than a day.^[3] The fruit has a fuzzy base and a long, narrow style which may reach 5 cm (2 in) in length.