74 



THE ABT ALBUM OF NEW ZEALAND FLORA. 



5. GERANIUM TRAVERSII {Hook., F.) Mr. Travers' Geranium. 



Specific Character. — Hoary uU over, and iilinost 

 silrerv with fine white pubescence. Stems, 1-2 (?) ft. long, 

 rather stout. Leaves long, petiolod, orbicular, 1.^ in. diam., 

 7-lobed to the middle ; lobes cuneate, ;i-fid, both surfaces 

 equally hoary; stipules broad, almost orbicular, cuspidate. 



Peduncle 4 in. long, 1-flowered, slender, with 2 ovate-lanceolate 

 acuminate bracts in the middle. Flower large, 1 in. diam. 

 Sepals broadly ovate, cuspidate, silky. Petals orbicular-ov ite, 

 quite entire, much larger than the sepals, wliite. — Handbook of 

 the Seic Zealand Flora {^Additions and Corrections^ etc.) p. 726. 



Description, etc.— Fig. 2, Plate No. 16.—" Mr. TRAVERS' GERANIUM."— 

 This very handsome plant is found only at Chatham Island, where it is common on waste 

 ground. It is not known to occur on the mainland of New Zealand. To Mr. Travers, of 

 Wellington, is due the honour of having introduced this beautiful plant to the botanical 

 world, he having collected it upon one of his visits to the Island in or about the year 

 1871. The specific name accorded to it is in compliment to that gentleman. Om- figure 

 on Plate No. 16 indicates clearly the grace and beauty of this charming addition to our 

 native geraniums. 



GENUS II. 



PELARGONIUM {L' Serif ier.) The Native Pelargonium. 



Gknebic Chaeacter. — Herbs (rarely shrubs), vdth. 

 opposite, simple-lobed or dissected, stipulate leaves, and l-or 

 many- flowered axillary peduncles. Flowers slightly irregular. 

 Sepals, 5, the upper produced into a spur, which is adaate 



with the pedicel. Petals, 5 or fewer, the upper often dis- 

 similar. Torus with 5 glands. Stamens, 10, of which only 7, 

 or fewer, are antheriferous. Ovary and fruit as in Geranium. 

 — Sandbook of the Neio Zealand Fiora, JJ. 37. 



Descriptiox, etc. — A very extensive genus almost confined to the Cape of Good 

 Hope, though a few species occur in Australia, one in the Canary Islands, one in Asia 

 Minor, and one in New Zealand. They are known very generally in gardens as geraniums, 

 though very different from the genus of that name in their spurred calyx, usually 

 irregular corolla, and the number of perfect stamens, which varies from seven do^Ti to 

 four. The greater number of forms cultivated in gardens are hybrids, which are 

 produced with great facility in this genus. The species possess more or less of the 

 astringent properties of the order, but one species at least (P. frisfe) has tubers, which 

 are eaten at the Cape of Good Hope. Some have fragrant foliage, from which an 

 essential oil is extracted, as P. roseitm and capitatum. The leaves of P. acetosum and 

 peltatum are edible and gratefully acid. The genus is divided into fifteen sub-genera, 

 which vary very much in habit. Some have a turnip-shaped root and no proper stem ; 

 others have a distinct leafy stem ; and a good number are under-shrubs with thick fleshy 

 stems. 



