NAT. ORDER. GERANIACEJE. *9 



tlie only part used in medicine ; but the plant, as an ornament, is 

 considered as one of tlic first in tlic flower garden. 



Propagntiov and Culture. Vvw genera of plants exhibit more 

 fully the industry of the cultivator, or demonstrate more cle:uly the 

 control he exercises in producing varieties, than in the case of the 

 Geranium or Pelargonium. Hundreds of varieties, which are to be 

 met with in the collections of florists, are the fruits of his ingenuity ; 

 for, iiowever strange it may appear, it is a positive fact that not above 

 a dozen true species are to be recognized amongst them. It is, 

 therefore, now only in the strictly botanical collections that true spe- 

 cies are to be seen, they having given place to sub-species, originated 

 by hybridizing. With the exception of three or four species, the 

 whole of this splendid tribe, amounting to nearly three hundred re- 

 corded species, and above five hundred sub-varieties, have been either 

 introduced or originated in this country and Europe within the last 

 fifty or sixty years. 



The tuberous rooted kinds, or those belonging to sections Hoa- 

 rea, Dhnacrina, and Scymouria, thrive best in an equal mixture of 

 liglit turfy soil, peat and sand ; and, when in a dormant state, require 

 to be kept quite dry, which commences as soon as they have done 

 flowering, and have ripened their seeds ; after which time they re- 

 quire to be kept in a good situation, out of the reach of frost, but as 

 soon as they begin to push afresh, all the old mould should be taken 

 out of the pots, and from their roots ; they should then be potted 

 afresh, in new mould. In potting them, care must be taken not to 

 bury the heart of tlie plants. After this tliey require a little 

 water, and, as they grow, watered whenever they are dry ; and if 

 the pots get filled with roots, they must be shifted into larger ones. 

 The best method of increasing them, is by the little tubers which is- 

 sue from the old bulbs, planted singly, in small pots, with their tops 

 above tlic surface, and kept dry until they begin to grow, when tlicy 

 sliould be watered. 



