88 GERANIACES. [Geraniwm. 
B. Capsule opening loculicidally. Leaves 3-foliolate. 
Flowers regular vs oe 6 ed Pietra sep Op Sx uit ss 
le GERANIUM, Linn. 
Annual or perennial herbs, rarely woody at the base. Leaves 
opposite or alternate, usually palmately lobed or cut, stipulate. 
Peduncles axillary, bracteate, 1-2-flowered. Flowers regular. 
Sepals 5. Petals 5, hypogynous, imbricate, alternating with 6 
glands. Stamens 10, usually all perfect, rarely 5 without anthers, 
free or connate at the base. Ovary 5-lobed and 5-celled, with a 
long beak terminated by 4 stigmas; ovules 2 in each cell, super- 
posed. Capsule splitting from below upwards into 5 carpels with 
long styles, which roll up elastically ; seeds 1 in each carpel. 
A well-known genus, comprising over 100 species, widely distributed over the 
whole world, but most abundant in the Northern Hemisphere. Two of the New 
Zealand species are endemic; 1 extends to Australia and temperate South 
America ; the remaining 2 are found in most temperate regions. 
Stems suberect. Leaves much divided. Peduncles 2-flow- 
ered. Sepals awned. Seeds coarsely reticulated .. 1. G. dissectum. 
Stems prostrate. Peduncles 1-flowered. Sepals hardly, 
awned. Seeds smooth or very finely reticulated .. 2. G. microphyllum 
Stemless or nearly so. MRootstock stout. Peduncles 
1-flowered. Seeds quite smooth . .. 3. G. sessiliflorum. 
Stems prostrate, and with the leaves silly - hoary. Pe- 
duncles 1-flowered. Flowers large .. «0, 4G. Travers. 
Softly pilose. Stems diffuse or prostrate. “Peduncles 
9-flowered. Sepals mucronate. Carpels wrinkled. Seeds 
smooth .. by Fis a af .. 5. G. molle. 
1. G. dissectum, Linn. Cent. 1. 21, var. australe, Benth. Fi. 
Austral. i. 296.—A branching decumbent or suberect annual or 
perennial herb, sometimes with a stout swollen rootstock. Stem 
1-2ft. long, often covered with soft spreading or retrorse hairs, 
rarely almost glabrous. Leaves on long slender petioles; blade 
1-2in. diam. or more, cut to the base or nearly so into 5-7 seg- 
ments which are again deeply and irregularly divided into few cr 
many usually narrow lobes; lobes obtuse or acute. Peduncles 
slender, 2-flowered. Flowers very variable in size. Sepals ovate 
or ovate-lanceolate, usually with an awn of varying length, pilose. 
Petals as long or longer than the sepals, slightly notched at the 
apex. Carpels hairy, even. Seeds deeply and coarsely reticulated. 
—G. dissectum var. carolinianum, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 59; 
Handb. N.Z. Fl. 36; Kirk, Students’ Fl. 79. 
Var. a, pilosum, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 36.—Suberect or spreading, 
clothed with spreading hairs. Petals often large.—G. pilosum, Forst. Prodr. 
n. 5381; A. Cun. Precur. n. 593. G. patagonicum, Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. ii. 252. 
Var. b, patulum, Hook. f. /.c.—Suberect or spreading, clothed with spread- 
ing and retrorse hairs. Petals usually small.—G. patulum, Forst. Prodr. n. 530. 
G. retrorsum, L’ Herit, ex D.C. Prodr. i. 644; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 594. 
Var. c, glabratum, Hook. f. 1.c.—Stout, procumbent, almost glabrous. 
Leaves 3-5-lobed; lobes much broader and less cut. 
