CHAP. XI.] PELARGONIUMS. 3 O 



are nearly allied to the touch-me-not; and, 

 when the seed is ripe, the valves of the seed- 

 pod burst asunder and curl up. There are 

 almost innumerable species, hybrids, and varie- 

 ties of Pelargoniums grown in our greenhouses, 

 so mixed up together by hybridising that it is 

 very difficult even to class them. One of the 

 hardiest kinds, which has numerous descend- 

 ants, is the Horse-shoe Geranium (Pelargonium 

 zonale); and another, P. inquinans, is the 

 common Scarlet. The Rose-scented Geranium 

 (P. <rraveolens) and the Oak-leaved (P. querci- 

 folium), with their numerous descendants, the 

 flowers of which are all crimson, striped with 

 brown so very dark that it looks almost black, 

 are also tolerably hardy. All the shrubby 

 kinds, which are generally kept in greenhouses, 

 require a rich loamy soil, that is, about half 

 very rotten dung and half sandy loam, to make 

 them produce fine flowers. When the flower- 

 ing season is over, the plants are cut down, 

 and cuttings made from them. (See page 69.) 

 When these have struck, they are potted in a 

 compost of vegetable mould and sand, and 

 kept in this soil till February or March, when 

 they are repotted in rich soil for flowering. 

 W hen the plants are wished to flower particu- 

 larly well, they are put into hotbeds after 

 repotting in February or March, to bring them 

 forward; and they are tied down to little sticks 

 placed round the pot, to keep them bushy. 

 Some gardeners throw away the old plants as 

 soon as they have made the cuttings; but 

 others take the old plants out of their pots, 



x 



