196 XXYIl. GERANIACEiE. Geranium. 



limits of this Flora), also of Europe and Asia. Not uncommon in gardens. 

 Flowers large, blue, f 



Order XXVII. GERANIACE^.— Geraijia. 



Stems herbaceous or siiffrutescent, tumid and separable at the nodes. 



Lvs. opposite, (at least the lower ones,) moetly stipulate, petiolate, palmately veined. 



Fis. — Peduncles terminal or opposite the leaves, sometimes axillary. 



Cai.— Sepals 5, persistent, veined, one sometimes saccate or spurred at base. 



Cor. — Petals 5, hypogynous or perigyiious, unguiculate ; a36tivati(jn tsvisted. 



Sta. usually monadelphous, hypogynous, twice or thrice as many as the petals. 



Ova. ^ of 3 united carpels, 2-ovuled, alternate with sepals: upon an elongated axis, from which they sepa- 



Fr.— I rate in fruit, curving upwards on the persistent style. 



Genera 4, species 500. The Cape of Good Hope is the favorite habitation of some of the most impor- 

 tant genera. Most species of the beautiful Pelaigonia are native of Uiat region alone. 



Conspectus of the Genera. 



fall perfect Geranivm. 1 



< 5 perfect, with 5 shorter and imperfect Erodium. 2 



Stamens lO, ( 7 perfect ; corolla iiTegular Pelargonium. 3 



1. GERANIUM. 



G-r. yepavos, a crane ; the beaked firuit resembles a crane's bill. 



Sepals and petals 5, regular; stamens 10, all perfect, the 5 alter- 

 nate ones longer, and each with a nectariferous gland at its base ; 

 fruit rostrate, at length separating into 5 long-styled, 1 -seeded car- 

 pels ; styles smooth inside, at length recurved from the base upwards 

 and adhering by the point to the summit of the axis. — Herbaceous^ 

 rarely shrubby at base. Peduncles \, 2 or 3-Jtowered. 

 ■ 1. G. MACULATUM. Spotted Geranium. 

 St. erect, angular, dichotomous, retrorsely pubescent ; Its. 3 — 5-parted, 

 lobes cuneiform and entire at base, incisely serrate above, radical ones on long 

 petioles, upper ones opposite, on short petioles; pet. entire; sep. mucronate- 

 awned. — Woods, &c., U. S. and Can., but rare in N. Eng. A fine species, 

 worthy a place among the parlor " geraniums." Stem 1 — 2f high. Leaves 

 2 — 3' diam., cleft | way down, 2 at each fork. Flowers mostly in pairs, on 

 unequal pedicels, often somewhat umbeled on the ends of the long peduncles. 

 Root powerfully astringent. Apr. — Jn. 



2. G. RoBERTiANUM. Herb Robert. 



St. diffuse, hairy ; lvs. 3 — 5-parted to the base, the segments pinnatifid, 

 and the pinnae incisely toothed ; sep. mucronate-awned, half the length of the 

 entire petals. — % Smaller and less interesting than the preceding, in dry, rocky 

 places, Can. to Va. and Ky. It has a reddish stem, with long, diffuse, weak 

 branches. Leaves on long petioles, somewhat hairy, outline 1^ — 3' diam, with 

 pinnatifid segments. Flowers small, pale purple. Capsules small, rugose, 

 keeled. Seeds smooth. The plant has a strong disagreeable smell. May. — Sept. 



3. G. pusiLLUM. Weak Crane's-bill. 



St. procumbent ; lvs. reniform or roundish, deeply 5 — 7-parted, lobes 

 3-cleft, linear; sep. hairy, acuminate, about as long as the emarginate petals. — 

 A delicate, spreading .species, growing in waste grounds, pastures, &c., L. I. 

 and Western N. Y. Tcrrr. Stem Aveak, If long, branching, covered with short, 

 deflected hairs. Leaves opposite, divided almost to the base into 5 or 7 lobes, 

 these again variously cut. Peduncles axillary, forked, bearing 2 purplish-red 

 flowers in Jn. and Jl. 



4. G. Carolinianum. Carolinian Crane'' s-b ill. 



St. diffusely branched ; lvs. deeply 5-parted, lobes incisely toothed ; ped. 

 rather short and clustered on the ends of the branches ; sep. mucronate-awned, 

 as long as the emarginate petals. — (i) Fields and hills throughout Can. and 

 U. S. Stems pubescent, diffuse, 8 — 15' long, swelling at the joints. Leaves 

 I — H' diam., hairy. Flowers small, rose-colored, in pairs, and somewhat fas- 

 ciculate. Seeds minutely reticulated, reddish brown, 1 in each hairy, beaked 

 carpel. Jl. — Perhaps too near the following species. 



