Erodium malacoides is a species of flowering plant in the geranium family known by the common names mallow-leaved stork's bill, Mediterranean stork's bill, and soft stork's-bill. It is an annual or biennial herb which is native to the Mediterranean region in southern Europe (north to 49ðN in western France), northern Africa, and southwest Asia. It can be found locally elsewhere is an introduced species.
The young plant grows a number of rugose green leaves, radially outward flat against the ground. The stems reach 10âÂÂ60 cm in height, with more leaves on long, hairy petioles, with glandular hairs. It bears small flowers in umbels of 3âÂÂ7 together; they are 10âÂÂ16 mm diameter, with fuzzy, soft spine-tipped sepals and five purplish petals 5-9 mm long with rounded (not notched) apices. The fruit is green with a glandular body about 5 mm long, with a long, pointed style 18âÂÂ35 mm long. It grows in dry, sunny habitats. In the south of its range in Malta, it flowers from January to June, while further north in western France, from June to August.