Erodium cicutarium has been divided into 3 subspecies by some authors. Erodium cicutarium (L.) LʼHér. subsp. cicutarium is the most common subspecies with the largest range, E. cicutarium (L.) L’Hér. subsp. bipinnatum Tourlet, from coastal habitats in southern Europe to the Netherlands, and E. cicutarium (L.) LʼHér. subsp. jacquinianum Fisch. et al. in sandy areas of southern Spain, Sardinia, Portugal and north Africa (Venter and Verhoeven 1990; Francis et al. 2012). The United States has reported all three subspecies, but two of them have been combined into Erodium cicutarium in the GRIN database (USDA-ARS 2024; USDA-NRCS 2024).

E. cicutarium is a prolific seed producer with up to 9 900 seeds per plant reported from western Canada (Blackshaw and Harker 1998b). In a study from the west coast of Canada, plants produced 5 093 seeds, 1 200 seeds per plant were found in an Argentinian rangeland study, and 110 940 seeds per m2 were measured in in the Mojave desert of the southwestern United States (Francis et al. 2012).

E. cicutarium seed dispersal is primarily through eruptive splitting of mericarps from the central column of the schizocarpic fruit, flinging the mericarp and seed from 0.3 to 1 meter away from the parent plant (Francis et al. 2012). Up to 15-20% of fallen mericarps may be further dispersed by harvester ants (Pogonomyrmex Mayr. spp. and Messor Forrel spp.) or rodents (Rodentia species) (Francis et al. 2012). Mericarps can drill themselves into small crevices or cracks in the soil through the coiling and uncoiling of the mericarp awn (Stamp 1984). Mericarps may also be carried in the wool or fur of livestock, which is likely how E. cicutarium arrived in grazing areas (Francis et al. 2012). The mericarps have also been dispersed along roadsides and fields on vehicles and farm machinery (Francis et al. 2012).

The seeds of E. cicutarium are hard and up to 95% are impermeable to water when freshly shed (Meisert 2002). Dry storage or seed scarification increased germination significantly (Meisert 2002; Francis et al. 2012). Germination was optimal in moist soil at relatively low temperatures of 5-15 oC (Francis et al. 2012). Seeds of E. cicutarium can retain viability for up to 37 years in storage, and were the oldest seeds to germinate in a multi-species study (Hull 1973).