rELARGONIUMS. 47 



Mr. Gray said that the simplest distinction of the pelargonium 

 is that it has but seven stamens. The phmts which we culti- 

 vate are pelargoniums and not geraniums. 



John B. Moore thought it was desirable to have the name 

 settled. The true name is pelargonium, but the public have used 

 the wrong name, and some propose to continue it. 



James Cruickshanks said that in his younger days there was 

 but a very short list of geraniums and pelargoniums. The first 

 seedling was raised by a Mr. Henderson ; it was a cross between 

 Pelargonium sanguineum and a greenhouse variety. Climate has 

 a great deal to do with color ; in our hot suns they can never be 

 so distinct in color as in a cooler climate. 



Mr. Wilder remarked that at the time mentioned by Mr. Cruick- 

 shanks, hybridization was verj'- little understood. Herbert, the 

 best authority on the subject, had not then written. 



Mr. Rand thought the society owed it to themselves and the 

 public to decide on the name of these plants. He moved that 

 the}' be called pelargoniums. 



Mr. Hovey said that the question of name had assumed an 

 important aspect. He asked whether a single hybrid had been 

 raised between the tuberous rooted species from the Cape of Good 

 Hope and the Zonales. He believed that they would not breed 

 together ; he had tried many species, but could not breed them ; 

 botanists were divided in opinion on the subject. 



Mr. Gray believed that Mr. Hovey was mistaken. He thought that 

 crosses had been made, though none were known with absolute 

 certainty. The Pelargonium inquinans is the parent of all these 

 plants, they all come from pelargoniums, and there is no geranium 

 blood in them. 



Denys Zirngiebel remarked that it is generally admitted b}^ the 

 trade, and especially by French florists, that the plants in question 

 should be called pelargoniums. 



Mr. Rand re-stated his motion that the plants cultivated by 

 florists as geraniums be called pelargoniums, and on putting the 

 question it was decided in the affirmative. 



Mr. Rand called attention to a plant of Coalogyne cristata exhib- 

 ited by him. He had found it far more easily grown than is 

 commonly supposed, having four or five plants in the orchid house, 

 and this one in the greenhouse, where it was watered and treated 



