318 BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS 



were packed with novelties in Zonals, when gardeners led their 

 visitors proudly from bed to bed and from ribbon border to ribbon 

 border, and when as much as a guinea a plant was paid for a 

 newcomer. The Geranium is largely grown still, but those proud 

 days have passed, and it is very unlikely that they will ever return. 

 The bright old plant has had its hour of glory, and must now be 

 content with playing a minor part in the designs of flower-lovers. 



It is to be noted that in the old days Geranium raisers worked 

 for leaf quite as much as for flower beauty indeed, it was the 

 markings of the foliage, in the form of a zone, that first gave the 

 class its distinctive name of Zonal. The popular name of Geranium 

 should never have been applied to the plant, because there is a 

 genus of hardy plants which has a proper botanical claim to the 

 name Geranium. Nor are the true Geraniums obscure and com- 

 monplace plants. They are grown in thousands of gardens, and 

 are very beautiful. They differ from the pseudo-Geranium (the 

 Zonal) in being perfectly hardy. This case of popular nomenclature, 

 with its attendant confusion, places a weapon in the hands of those 

 who support a classical system of naming plants, and who drive 

 home the point that an indiscriminate and unsystematic plan of 

 naming must inevitably lead to confusion. It is to be feared that 

 there is only too much truth in this. We say feared, because we 

 are firmly convinced that the stiff Latin names of many beautiful 

 plants are a real obstacle to their general cultivation, and we would 

 gladly see names given to them which are easier of pronunciation 

 by the multitude. 



The popular Zonal Geraniums of former days, which were 

 grown for the beauty of their leaves, were so numerous that they 

 had to be divided into sub-sections, such as Golden Tricolor, 

 Silver Tricolor, Golden Bronze, Black-leaved, Yellow-leaved, and 

 White-edged. The famous Mrs. Pollock, the advent of which 

 caused quite a furore, was a Golden Tricolor, and another re- 

 nowned variety in this class was Peter Grieve. Golden Harry 



