oy... — 
-Eropium Romanum. Roman Crane’s-Bitt. | 
| JHE dibbbeieeite i 
: Clafs and Order. 
MoNnADELPHIA PENTANDRIA. 
: Generic Charafier. 
Cal. 5-phyllus. Cor. s-petala. Nec? Squamule 5, cum filamentis 
alternantes; et Glandule mellifere, bafi ftaminum infidentes. 
Frudus 5-coccus, roftratus ; vara {piralia, introrfum barbata. 
Specific Charaéer and Synonyms, | 
ERODIUM romanum acaule, {capis radicalibus multifloris, — 
foliis pinnatis, foliolis pinnatifidis, L’Herift. 2.11. 
Ait, Kew. v. 2. p. 414. > = 2 
“GERANIUM romanum. Linn. Sp. Pl. ed. 3. p. 951. a 
GERANIUM myrrhinum tenuifolium, amplo flore purpureo. 
| Barr. rar. 568. ¢. 1245. i Ja 
In point of foliage, a great fimilarity exifts betwixt the pre- 
fent plant, and the Geranium cicutarium of Linnaeus, a wild 
_ Britifh native, common on many of the banks and walls about 
London; there.is alfo a confiderable affinity in the form and 
colour of their flowers; but the romanum is a perfeéily diftiné 
{pecies, differing in having a root of longer duration, and which 
is more properly perennial than’ annual; indeed we have no 
doubt but that, in its natural flate, it is perf Gly fo: in the 
cultivated plant the flowering ftems rife immediately from the 
root, not from the ftalks, as in the G. cicutarium. © 
_ This lively little plant begins flowering in April, and con- 
tinues to do fo during moft of the fummer months, producing: 
feeds in abundance, which falling on the ground vegetate, and 
_ Ancreafe the plant; we have indeed found that ‘it is much dif- 
_ pofed to become a weed, in dry paftures, or on grafs, not 
ery frequently mown, which it moft agreeably. enlivens; 4 
y fituation fuits it beft: it is well calculated to grow among 
ones, or rock-work. a ee a 
: Grows fpontaneoufly in Italy, and is faid by Linn xus to be 
found in the ftreets of Rome ; was cultivated in Chelfea garden 
mie. : - oe: 
Its feeds are a curious obje&, the manner in which they a 
detached when perfe&tly ripe, in-hot, dry weather, and ¢ 
_ {crew-like form, which the tail of the arillus quickly affun 
is highly deferving of attention. oe 
