264 



PEL 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



PEL 



inches thick and more, consisting of several irregular tubers, 

 and frequently half a foot in width, within purple, on the 

 outside covered with a brownish bark, and perennial; flow- 

 ers scentless, appearing in April. This used formerly to be 

 known in gardens by the name of Horsehead Geranium, in 

 allusion to the remarkable shape of the flower : three of the 

 petals cohere like the wings and keel of a papilionaceous 

 flower, and are of a white or pale plush colour ; the other 

 two are reflexed, rose-coloured, and spotted, and look like a 

 divided standard, of the same kind of blossom. Native of 

 the Cape. 

 , ** Almost stemless : Root tuberous. 



4. Pelargonium Lobatum ; Vine-leaved Crane's Bill. Stem- 

 less ; umbel compound ; leaves ternate or quinate, lobed, 

 tomentose. Roots tuberous, from which come out three or 

 four broad leaves, divided into several lobes, like a vine-leaf, 

 spreading flat on the ground, crenated, on short footstalks ; 

 peduncles immediately from the root, about a foot high, 

 naked, terminated by a bunch of dark purple flowers, having 

 long tubes, sessile, and emitting a very agreeable odour in 

 the evening, somewhat like the Bergamot pear. It flowers 

 in July and August. Native of the Cape. 



5. Pelargonium Triste; Niyht-smelling Crane's Bill. Sub- 

 caulescent: umbel simple; leaves multifid, laciniate, villose; 

 segments lanceolate. Root thick, roundish, tuberous, with 

 several hairy leaves springing from it, which are finely divided 

 almost like those of the Garden Carrot; they spread near 

 the ground, and among them come out the stalks about a 

 foot high, having two or three leaves of the same sort, but 

 smaller, and sitting close ; from the stalks arise two or three 

 naked peduncles, terminated by a bunch of yellowish flowers, 

 marked with dark purple spots, which smell very sweet after 

 the sun has left them. Native of the Cape. 



6. Pelargonium Flavum ; Carrot-leaved Crane's Bill. Sub- 

 caulescent: umbels simple; leaves decompoundedly laciniate, 

 hirsute ; segments linear. Root tuberous ; stems several ; 

 corolla straw-white; petals wedge-shaped. It is a rough- 

 haired plant. The two upper petals are ascending ; the 

 middle ones concave, converging, inclosing the fifth petal. 

 It flowers from July to September. Native of the Cape. 



** Herbaceous, or sujfruticose. 



7. Pelargonium Tabulare; Rough-stalked Crane's Bill. 

 Peduncles few-flowered ; leaves roundish, .cordate, five-lobed, 

 blunt; stems decumbent, hairy; corolla papilionaceous, yel- 

 low, twice as long as the calix, with the upper petals wider, 

 reflex, emarginate, the rest linear. It flowers during the 

 greater part of the summer. Native of the Cape. 



8. Pelargonium Alchemilloides ; Lady's- Mantle-leaved 

 Crane's Bill. Peduncles four-flowered or thereabouts ; leaves 

 orbiculate, palmate, gashed, very hairy. Stem herbaceous, 

 decumbent ; stigmas sessile. This sends out several herba- 

 ceous stalks, about a foot and half in length ; flowers blush- 

 colour, several together upon very long peduncles ; there is 

 a succession of them during all the summer months, and the 

 seeds ripen about a month after the flowers are fallen. There 

 is a variety of it with a dark circle in the middle of the 

 leaves. This, having herbaceous stalks, is best propagated 

 by seeds: the cuttings indeed will take root, but the seed- 

 ling plants are preferable. Where the seeds of this and 

 many other sorts are permitted to scatter, there will be a 

 supply of young plants in the spring following, provided the 

 seeds are not buried too deep in the ground. 



9. Pelargonium Odora^issimum ; Sweet-scented Crane'} 

 Bill. Peduncles five-flowered or thereabouts ; leaves round- 

 ish-cordate, very soft. This has a very short fleshy stalk, 

 dividing near the ground into several heads; from these 



heads come out several slender stalks, nearly a foot in length, 

 prostrate, with rounder leaves than those near the root, but 

 of the same texture and odour. The flowers are produced 

 from the side of these stalks, three, four, or five standing 

 together upon slender peduncles ; they are white, and being 

 small, make little appearance. It flowers during most part 

 of the summer. This species is known by the delicate soft- 

 ness of its leaves, and their highly aromatic and powerful 

 smell, which is renewed by rubbing after the plant' has been 

 dried upwards of twenty years. Native of the Cape. It may 

 be propagated by seeds, or from heads slipped off from the 

 short fleshy stalks ; these heads should have their lower 

 leaves stripped oflf, and then be planted single in a small 

 pot; or if the heads are small, two or three may be put into 

 one pot. Plunge them into a very moderate hot-bed, shade 

 them, and refresh them gently with water; they will take 

 root in a month or five weeks ; then harden them gradually 

 to the open air, where they may remain till autumn, when 

 they must be removed into shelter for the winter. 



10. Pelargonium Grossularioides ; Gooseberry-leaved Crane's 

 Bill. Peduncles subbiflorous, filiform ; leaves cordate, 

 roundish, gashed, toothed ; stems very smooth. This is a 

 biennial plant, sending out a great number of very slender 

 trailing stalks, extending a foot and half in length ; flowers 

 on short slender peduncles, coming out at every joint from 

 the side of the stalks ; they are very small, and of a reddish 

 colour, single, or sometimes two or three together. They 

 continue in succession all the summer, and the seeds ripen 

 in about five weeks after the flowers decay. Naave of the 

 Cape. Sow the seeds on a moderate hot-bed, or on an open 

 bed of light earth in the spring ; the latter will require only 

 to be kept clean from weeds, and to be thinned where they 

 are too close : they will flower in July and August, and, if 

 the autumn prove favourable, the seeds will ripen in Sep- 

 tember. Those which were raised on the hot-bed will come 

 earlier to. flower, and more certainly perfect seeds. Some of 

 these plants, if put into pots, plunged into an old tan-bed 

 under a frame, and treated as directed for the tuberous-rooted 

 sorts, may be preserved during the winter. 



11. Pelargonium Anceps ; Angular-stalked Crane's Bill. 

 Umbels many-flowered; flowers in a sort of head; leaves 

 cordate, roundish, obsoletely lobed ; stem three-sided, anci- 

 pital. Native of the Cape. 



12. Pelargonium Althseoides; Althaa-leaved Crane's Bill. 

 Peduncles many-flowered ; leaves cordate, ovate, sinuate, 

 toothed, the uppermost pinnatifid. Plant depressed, wholly 

 subtomentose ; petals the length of the calix, dark purple on 

 the outside, with a white edge, red within, the two upper 

 ones with blood-red dotted streaks at the base ; calices hir- 

 sute; beaks very short. Native of the Cape. 



13. Pelargonium Senecioides ; Small White-flowered Crane's 

 Bill. Peduncles three-flowered ; involucres and calices blunt; 

 leaves bipinnatifid, laciniate ; stem herbaceous. Annual ;' 

 flowering in July. Native of the Cape. 



14. Pelargonium Coriandrifolium; Coriander-leaved Crane's 

 Bill. Peduncles subtriflorous ; corollas subtetrapetalous ; 

 leaves bipinnate, linear; stem herbaceous, smoothish. This 

 is an annual, or rather biennial plant, with branching stalks 

 usarly a foot high. The flowers stand upon naked peduncles, 

 which proceed from the side of the stalks, on the side oppo- 

 site to the leaves. They are of a pale flesh-colour, appear 

 in July, and the seeds ripen in September, soon after which 

 the plants decay. Native of the Cape. Being an annual 

 plant, it is propagated by seeds sown on a gentle hot-bed in 

 the spring. When the plants are strong enough to remove, 

 plant each in a separate small pot, plunged into a moderate 



