156 NAT. ORDER. GERANIAOEiE. 



cimens of drawings, taken from nature, which we have seen 

 are truly the richest productions that have graced the floral cata- 

 logue ; and on which account the proprietor of this publication 

 has at a great expense secured his services ; hence, our readers 

 may in future expect original likenesses of many rare native plants, 

 which have never been introduced into any work whatever. The 

 Pelai-gonium quercifolium, in point of beauty, is thought to eclipse 

 all that have hitherto been introduced into this country. Its blos- 

 soms are certainly the most showy — in a collection of jilants, they 

 are the first to attract the eye : the peculiarity of color, joined to 

 their form, has induced some to fancy a resemblance between its 

 flowers and those of the Heart's-ease. To the blossoms of the 

 Lathyrus articulatus, in point of color, they bear a distant resem- 

 blance. 



In our eagerness to lay before the public this striking novelty, 

 we may possibly omit some circumstacce relative to its history and 

 treatment, which future experience may develope. They will 

 not, however, we trust, be very material. The plants which we 

 have had an opportunity of seeing, have scarcely exceeded two 

 feet in height, growing up with a shrubby stem, and expanding 

 widely into numerous flowering branches. They are unusually 

 disposed to produce flowers in a constant succession, so that during 

 most of the summer months the plant is loaded with a profusion of 

 bloom. These flowers, for the most part, go off without being 

 followed by any seed ; and when any seed is produced, of which 

 we have seen a few instances, there is generally one perfect and 

 four abortive ; and frequently all of them fail. The blossoms 

 vary in the number of their stamens. In many of the varieties, 

 four are most generally apparent, three superior, and that very 

 constantly, one inferior, and often two. We have never observed 

 seven, the proper number of fertile stamens in a Pelargonium. 

 In most of the sorts, the whole plant is covered with short, white 

 hairs, which give to the foliage a somewhat silvery appearance. 



