1262 



PELARGONIUM 



PELARGONIUM 



who founded the species on previous descriptions. One 

 of the descriptions (Dillenius, in "Hortus Elthamensis," 

 1732) was accompanied by a picture, and this picture, 

 reduced one-half, is reproduced in Fig. 1698. It will be 

 seen that even in that early day the species had varied 

 into a form with short-notched petals and short pedi- 

 cels. Introduced into England in 1714. 



3. hortdrum, Bailey. COMMON FISH or BEDDING GERA- 

 NIUM. Figs. 1699-1701. The common Geranium in 

 great numbers of forms, derived from the blending of 

 P. zonale and P. inquinans in more than a century of 

 careful selection. The original species are not now in 

 cultivation. Practically all garden Geraniums have the 

 zonal marks on the leaves or bands or a central blotch 

 of variegation. Some of them have intermingled colors 

 of green, white and red on the same leaf. Some are 

 " silver-banded " and some " gold-banded." See Fig. 1701. 



AA. Plant weak and usually trailing, the branches 

 slender and not succulent: Ivs. fleshy and 

 glossy, lobed, marginally peltate : inflorescence 

 umbellate : good stamens 7, 2 upper shorter. 

 (Dibrachya.) IVY-LEAVED GERANIUMS. 



4. peltatum, Ait. (P. scutdtum, Sweet. P. hedercefb- 

 lium, Hort.). Fig. 1702. Plant with slender- jointed, 

 more or less zigzag stems which are glabrous or very 

 nearly so (except at the top) : Ivs. glabrous or minutely 

 pubescent, fleshy, the petiole inserted just inside the 

 margin at the base, about 5-nerved, with about 5 short 

 wide, mostly obtuse main lobes and often with smaller 

 miuor lobes or angles and notches: peduncle very long, 

 originally 4-8-fld., but now bearing many greatly modi- 

 fled fls., the calyx -tube slender and stalk-like and often 

 longer than the pedicel and 2-3 times longer than the 



pointed nerved and mostly ciliate lobes , petals twice as 

 long as calyx-lobes, red to white or purplish, the 2 

 upper ones erect and purple-blotched or striped, the 3 



1705. Pelargonium 



domesticum (X 



One of the Show or Lady 

 Washington Pelargoniums. 



1706. Pelargonium quercifolium 



lower ones usually smaller and not marked and sepa- 

 rated from the upper as if the flower were 2-lipped. 

 B.M. 20. Parent of the Ivy-Leaved Geraniums, now 

 much improved and varied. Prized for baskets. 

 There are forms with double fls. and colors of various 

 kinds. It is a most desirable plant and very floriferous 

 in most of the garden sorts. 



AAA. Plant woody, not succulent, the foliage often 

 scented but not "fishy:" Ivs. various, but not 

 distinctly pinnately parted: inflorescence pan- 

 iculate or umbellate: good stamens ? or 6. (Pel- 

 argium.) 



B. Stipules present and conspicuous. 



0. Lvs. not distinctly lobed, though, often angled, mostly 

 oval or ovate and cordate. Exceptions in P. do- 

 mesticum. 



5. betulinum, Ait. Erect and shrubby, downy only on 

 the young growths: Ivs. stalked, oval or ovate, obtuse 

 or not prominently acute, rounded or truncate at base, 

 the stipules sharp and deciduous: fls. light purple, the 

 broad upper petals with dark streaks. B.M. 148. A 

 handsome and neat plant. 



6. cordd-tnm, Ait. Fig. 1703. Shrubby and erect, vil- 

 lous or nearly glabrous : Ivs. long-stalked, cordate-acute, 

 denticulate and sometimes obscurely lobed: peduncles 

 usually branched, the pedicels and calyx soft-hairy: 

 fls. purplish, the petals twice as long as the sepals. 

 B.M. 165 (as P. cordifolium). Told from P. cucullatum 

 by its flat cordate-acute Ivs. It is a handsome plant in 

 bloom. The plant in cultivation as P. cordatum (Fig. 

 1703), has leaves more truncate at the base than the de- 

 scriptions and old pictures call for, although on some 

 shoots the leaves may be typically cordate. 



7. cucullatum, Ait. Tall and shrubby plant, much 

 branched, softly and densely villous : Ivs. long-stalked, 

 kidney-shaped and cupped or cucullate, denticulate, 

 very soft-pubescent, the stipules ovate-acute and with- 

 ering: fls. purple, in many-fid, panicles, the pedicels 

 and calices densely silky-hairy, the petals twice as 

 long as the lance-acuminate sepals. "Very common 

 round Capetown and in the western districts, where it 

 is often used as an ornamental hedge-plant." Harvey. 

 Known in England from 1690, and the parent, with P. 

 angulosum and probably others, of the fancy or show 

 Pelargoniums of gardeners. Not known in cult, in its 

 pure or original form. 



8. anguldsum, Ait. Fig. 1704. Differs from P. cucul- 

 latum in its harsh-hairy covering and rigid angled 

 leaves: the Ivs. are short-stalked, truncate or broadly 

 cuneate at base, with 3-5 shallow angular and acute 

 short lobes; panicles with fewer-fld. umbels. Linnaeus 



