N. ORD.—GERANIACE:. 32 
GENUS.—G ER ANIUM,* LINN, 
SEX. SYST.—MONADELPHIA DECANDRIA. 
GERANIUM MACULATUM. 
WILD GERANIUM. 
SYN.—GERANIUM MACULATUM, LINN. 
COM. NAMES.—WILD GERANIUM OR CRANESBILL, SPOTTED GERANIUM 
OR CRANESBILL, CROWFOOT,+ ALUM-ROOT, TORMENTIL, STORK- 
BILL; (FR.) BEC DE GRUE; (GER.) GEFLECKTER STORCHSNABEL. 
A TINCTURE OF THE FRESH AUTUMNAL ROOT OF GERANIUM MACULATUM, 
LINN. 
Description.—This erect perennial, hairy herb, grows to a height of from one 
to one and a half feet. Root somewhat woody. Stem erect, hairy, forking. Leaves 
of two kinds; those from the root, long petioled, those of the stem, opposite ; all 
generally 5-parted; the cuneate divisions lobed and cut at the end, hairy, The 
leaves when old become somewhat blotched with whitish-green, whence the specific 
name. Spules lanceolate. /nflorescence a terminal open panicle; pedicels about 
one inch long, from one to two sometimes three flowered; flowers large and 
showy. Sepa/s equal, cuspidate, persistent, villous. Fe/a/s equal, entire, bearded 
upon the claw. Stamens 10, unequal, the longer 5 alternate with the petals, and 
furnished each with a basal gland ; f/aments slightly hairy at the base ; anthers per- 
fect on all the filaments. .S¢y/e terminal, persistent, smooth inside. (This is notice- 
able in the fruit after their cleavage from the axis.) Sveds minutely reticulate. 
GERANIACEZ.—This order, having a position between Zygophyllacee and 
Rutacee, is characterized by generally strong-scented herbs or shrubs, having as- 
tringent roots; /eaves palmately veined and usually lobed ; flowers symmetrical. 
(Exc. mpatiens and Tropaolum.) Calyx of 5 persistent sepals, imbricated in the 
bud ; corol/a of 5 petals, furnished with claws, mostly convolute in the bud; s¢a- 
mens 10, in two rows, the outer often sterile; 7/aments broad and united at the 
base ; styles 5, connected about an axis; sf&gmas 5, separate; ovary 5-carpeled, 
each carpel containing from 1 to 2 seeds, the carpels opening by the curling back 
of the drying persistent styles; seeds destitute of albumen. (Exc. Oxalis.) Coty- 
ledons convolute, and plicate with each other. 
This is one of those orders that are often broken up into smaller ones then 
recombined, in botanical history. It contains in the more northern United States 
the following genera: Erodium, Hlerkea, Geranium, Impatiens, Limnanthes, and 
Oxalis. There are two particularly interesting genera besides the above, viz., 
Pelargonium, to which belong our cultivated geraniums, introduced from the Cape 
* Tépavs, geranos, a crane; the styles bearing resemblance to a crane’s bill. 
+ More applicable from usage to the Ranuncule. 
