Fungi:
Erodiums can develop stem rot or leafy gall or become infected with Synchytrium papillatum (Stork's bill Chytrid), which is a species of fungi that is a parasite of Erodium and is related to the Chytrid fungus that affects amphibians. (See: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/384481-Synchytrium-papillatum)
"S. papillatum is a 'primitive' fungus with an animal-like reproduction. Synchytrium is a large genus and some species have a wide range of hosts. (See: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/103372060)
Note: Don't confuse red leaves with S. papillatum. Erodiums have a propensity to have red coloration especially in early basal form. Perhaps cold weather, low light levels or just environmental stress bring out the ...more ↓
Fungi:
Erodiums can develop stem rot or leafy gall or become infected with Synchytrium papillatum (Stork's bill Chytrid), which is a species of fungi that is a parasite of Erodium and is related to the Chytrid fungus that affects amphibians. (See: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/384481-Synchytrium-papillatum)
"S. papillatum is a 'primitive' fungus with an animal-like reproduction. Synchytrium is a large genus and some species have a wide range of hosts. (See: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/103372060)
Note: Don't confuse red leaves with S. papillatum. Erodiums have a propensity to have red coloration especially in early basal form. Perhaps cold weather, low light levels or just environmental stress bring out the chemicals that create red.
Synchytrium geranii is a fungus native to N. America that affects Geranium carolinianum in TX and Louisiana. (See: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/149924925)
Viruses:
Plant Viruses Online (2013) lists the following as attacking E. cicutarium:
- beet pseudo-yellows closterovirus
- filaree red leaf luteovirus
- subterranean clover red leaf luteovirus
- tomato spotted wilt virus
E. cicutarium also serves as a host of the tobacco budworm (Heliothis virscens), a pest of cotton and tobacco in western USA (Henneberry and Watson, 1995).
Mold
Peronospora erodii, a species in Chromista (brown algae and allies).
Dispersal:
Both rodents and ants eat E. cicutarium seeds and will carry seeds to food caches or nests. In both instances, seeds that are not eaten may later germinate (Harmon and Stamp, 1992; Guertin, 2003).
The seeds, with their long, coiled tails and barbs, get caught up in the fur, feathers and fleeces of mammals and birds and this is probably how seeds were taken to North America (and Australasia), and one of the ways in which seeds were dispersed over long distances in the United States (Mensing and Byrne, 1998).
References:
Erodium Phytopathology
