SUPPLEMENT. 



THE FAMILIES OF FLOWERING PLANTS. 



By Chaeles Louis Pollaed. 



CHAPTER XXII. 



Order Geraniales. 



The large group Rosales, with which we have been dealing, was 

 distinguished, it will be remembered, by the simple ovary, consisting 

 either of one carpel or several separate 

 and distinct carpels. In the order 

 Geraniales the carpels are united, form- 

 ing a compound ovary; the stamens are 

 definite in number, rarely more than 

 twice as many as the sepals; and the 

 position of the ovule or immature seed 

 in the ovary is also characteristic. The 

 order is a large one, comprising 20 

 families, of which the most important 

 are the Geraniaceae, Linaceae, Euta- 

 ceae, Burseraceae, Meliaceae, and Eu- <^....,^J,^^ 

 phorbiaceae. The plants include herbs, 

 shrubs and trees, many of which are of 

 economic or ornamental value. 



Family Geraniaceae. Geranium 

 Family. Contains about 11 genera 

 and 475 species, of rather wide distri- 

 bution, but particularly abundant in 

 South Africa. They are herbs with 

 solitary or clustered flowers, which in 

 Geranium and Pelargonium are often 

 showy and bright colored. The sta- 

 mens are 5 or a multiple of 5; the 

 ovary 5-celled, becoming a capsule in 

 fruit. The carpels, or divisions of the 

 ovar}' , bear long tails which are often 

 elastic when ripe, causing them to curl up. This has given the name 

 "cranesbill "to the geraniums and their allies. 



E-M'P 



Fig. 123. The Alaskan cranesbill {Ge' 

 raniiim erianthum) one-half natural size. 

 Original. 



