GERANIUM TRIBE 57 



seeds approach maturity the valves of the capsule acquire an 

 extraordinary elastic power, and if touched, instantaneously curl 

 into a spiral form, and spring with considerable force many feet 

 from the plant, dropping the seeds by the way. 



1. Geranium (Crane's-bill) 



1. G. sanguineum (Bloody Crane's-bill). Root-leaves nearly 

 round, with 7 deeply cut lobes, each of which is 3-cleft ; stem- 

 leaves 5 or 3-lobed. An exceedingly handsome plant, with hairy 

 stems about a foot high, abundant foliage, and large bright purple 

 flowers, borne singly on slender peduncles. Limestone and mag- 

 nesian rocks, not common. Fl. July to September. Perennial. 



2. G. pJuzum (Dusky Crane's-bill). Stem erect; flowers panicled ; 

 sepals slightly pointed ; petals not notched as they are in the fore- 

 going species, very spreading ; capsules keeled, hairy below, 

 wrinkled above. In woods and thickets, rare, and said to be only 

 really wild in Yorkshire and Westmoreland, but not an uncommon 

 garden plant ; remarkable for the dingy, almost black hue of its 

 flowers. Fl. May, June. Perennial. 



3. G. sylvaticum (Wood Crane's-bill). Stem erect, 1-2 feet or 

 more high, forked, with a corymbose panicle of purple flowers ; 

 2 flowers on each peduncle ; leaves palmate, 7-lobed ; lobes cut and 

 serrated ; stamens awl-shaped, fringed ; fruit-stalks erect. Woods 

 and pastures, chiefly in the north, rare. Fl. June, July. Per- 

 ennial. 



4. G. pratense (Meadow Crane's-bill). Stem erect ; leaves pal- 

 mate, 7-lobed ; lobes cut and serrated ; stamens smooth, tapering 

 from a broad base ; capsules hairy all over ; fruit-stalks bent down. 

 The largest British species, growing in moist pastures ; about 

 2 feet high, with large and handsome purplish blue flowers. 

 Fl. June to August. Perennial. 



5. G. pyrenaicum (Mountain Crane's-bill). Stem spreading, 

 downy ; root-leaves kidney-shaped, 5 to 7-lobed ; lobes oblong, 

 obtuse, 3-cleft, and toothed at the end ; petals notched, twice as 

 long as the pointed sepals ; 2-3 feet high. Well distinguished by 

 the thick down on its stems and leaves, and by its numerous, rather 

 small, purple flowers, with cleft petals. Roadsides and meadows, 

 not common. Fl. June, July. Perennial. 



6. G. Robertianum (Herb-Robert). Stem spreading, 6-12 inches 

 high ; leaves ternate or quinate ; leaflets deeply cut, the segments 

 with minute points ; sepals angular, hairy, pointed ; capsules 

 wrinkled and hairy. One of the most generally diffused and best 

 known species, well distinguished by its red, hairy, succulent stems, 

 and leaves which towards autumn acquire the same hue, and by 

 its small, elegantly veined, bright reddish purple flowers. The scent 



