1258 



PELARGONIUM 



PELARGONIUM 



them in his pictures, but the larger part of their evolu- 

 tion is subsequent to his history. Various small works 

 on Pelargonium have appeared. De Jonghe's "Traite" 

 Me"thodique de la Culture du Pelargonium," Brussels, 

 1844, contains good bibliographical and cultural data. 



Most of the cultivated forms of Pel- 

 argonium can be grouped into four 

 general horticultural classes : 



I. The zonal, horse-shoe, fish, orbed- 

 ding types, known to gardeners as 

 Geraniums. They comprise a mongrel 

 class, lately designated (Bailey, "Bot- 

 any," p. 314) as Pelargonium Tiorto- 

 rum. This race seems to be derived 

 from P. zonale and P. inquinans. 

 These species were made by Linnaeus 

 in 1753, but he founded them on de- 

 scriptions in earlier works rather than 

 directly on the plants. In America, 

 the zonal Geraniums are very popu- 

 lar, for they develop their colors well 

 in the bright climate. They are popu- 

 lar in all countries, however. They 

 probably stand closer to the lives of 

 a great number of people than any 

 other ornamental plant. If a window 

 or a garden can have but one plant, 

 that plant is likely to be a Geranium. 

 The old race of large - flowered and 

 large-clustered Geraniums was known 

 as Nosegay Geraniums, because they 

 were bouquet-like, but this term is not 

 known in America. Another race has 

 been developed for its zone-marked 

 leaves. There is also a race of double- 

 flowered zonals, which have appeared 

 chiefly since 1860. The very full dou- 

 ble and close-clustered forms lose 

 much of the grace and charm of the 

 single types. Some of them are little 

 better, to a sensitive eye, than balls of 

 colored tow or wadding. In the devel- 

 opment of the individual flower of the 

 Geranium, there have been two ideals 

 the English ideal for a circular flower 

 with the petals broadened and over- 

 lapping, and the continental ideal with 

 a somewhat 2-lipped flower and the 

 petals well separated. In the Gar- 

 deners' Chronicle in 1841, p. 644, the 

 proper form is set forth in an illustra- 

 tion, and this is contrasted with the 

 "original form;" the picture is repro- 

 duced, somewhat smaller, in Fig. 1699. 

 "The long, narrow, flimsy petals of the 

 old varieties, "the writing says, "moved 

 by every breath of wind, and separated 

 to their very base by broad, open 

 spaces, have been succeeded by the 

 flowers of the 

 present day, with 

 broad stout pet- 

 als so entirely 

 overlapping each 

 other as to leave 

 scarcely an inden- 

 tation in the out- 

 line of the flower; 

 while the coarse- 

 ness which pre- 

 vailed in the 

 larger of the old 

 sorts is replaced 

 by a firmer sub- 

 stance, and a far more delicate text- 

 ure." Fig. 1700 shows contrasting 

 ideals, although the picture does 

 not represent the extremes. 



In recent years a French type has 

 appeared under the name of "gros 

 bois," or large-wood " race. It is 

 characterized as follows by Dauthe- 

 as depicted in 1841. nay: umbels ordinarily 4-5 in. in 



beautiful compact 



The 



ideal. Uppermost is Mrs. E. G. Hill 

 middle one, Maculatum; lowest.Wistre. 



diam. : fls. very large ; petals roundish, or sometimes 

 triangular, the limb always very large and giving the 

 corolla a remarkably round contour: Ivs. very large, 

 thick and coriaceous, plane or incurved, more or less 

 indented, strongly nerved, their diam. averaging about 

 5 in. : pedicels large and short : pe- 

 duncles large, rigid, and projecting be- 

 yond the foliage: wood soft, fleshy, 

 very large, often 1% in. around. To 

 this type Dauthenay refers the Bruant 

 Geraniums, dating from 1882. 



A special handbook is devoted to 

 these plants: Dauthenay, "Les Gera- 

 niums," Paris, 1897. 



II. The ivy-leaved Geraniums, the 

 products of Pelargonium peltatum. 

 Fig. 1702. The species is said to have 

 been introduced into England in 1701. 

 It is a weak and straggling plant, used 

 mostly in vases, hanging baskets, and 

 other places in which an overhanging 

 subject is desired. The foliage is thick 

 and shiny, slightly peltate and promi- 

 nently angle-lobed, and the pink or 

 reddish 2-lipped flowers are always 

 admired. Much-improved and double 

 forms are now in commerce, and the 

 plant is probably more popular than at 

 any time in its history. 



III. The show or fancy type is 

 known to gardeners as Pelargonium, 

 and in this country also as Lady Wash- 

 ington Geraniums. Fig. 1705. These 

 plants are very popular in Europe, 

 being grown in numerous varieties. 

 They are prominent at the exhibitions. 

 Because of the hot, trying summer 

 climate, these plants are of very sec- 

 ondary importance in America, al- 

 though there are many gardeners who 

 succeed well with them. This race 

 of, Pelargoniums seems to have de- 

 scended chiefly from P. cucullatum, 

 although P. angulosum may be nearly 

 equally concerned in it. P. grandi- 

 florum is also thought to have been a 

 formative parent. It is probable that 

 two or three other species are con- 

 cerned in the evolution. In fact, the 

 late Shirley Hibbard once wrote (G.C., 

 July 3, 1880) that "it must be evident 

 to every cultivator of these flowers 

 that the blood of a score or so of spe- 

 cies is mingled in them." This marked 

 garden race, which represents no sin- 

 gle wild species, is designated below 

 as P. domesticum. 



IV. Various scented-leaved Gera- 

 niums, known mostly as Rose Gera- 

 niums. These are of several species, 

 with their hybrids and derivatives. The 

 common Rose Geraniums are nearest 

 P. graveolens and P. JRadula. The Nut- 

 meg Geranium is P. odoratissimum. 



Aside from the above groups there 

 are several species which appear spo- 

 radically in the trade, as P. tomento- 

 sum, P. echinatum, P. triste, P. quin- 

 quevulnerum, P. fitlgidum and P. 

 quercifolium or the derivatives of 

 each. The other species mentioned in 

 the following account (and not men- 

 tioned above) are not known by the 

 writer to be in the American trade, but 

 they are of interest as parents of garden forms or for 

 other special reasons. Many of the true species of Pel- 

 argonium are very satisfactory plants, and they deserve 

 to be better known. Few great collections of Pelargo- 

 nium species and varieties have been made in this 

 country. The late John Saul, Washington, once had a 

 very large collection. Robert Sandiford. Mansfield, 

 Ohio, is a prominent grower of the zonal and ivy- 

 leaved class; also the Cottage Gardens, Queens, N. Y., 



1700. 

 Three forms of 



earden 

 Geranium. 



upper two show the 2-lipped 

 . G. H 



