THE CRANE'S-BILL FAMILY. 319 



dium (Storks'-bills) and Geranium are principally found in 

 Europe, North America, and Northern Asia. The principal 

 genera are Pelargonium, Geranium, Erodium, and Monsonia, 

 the number of good species being, according to Lindley, about 

 five hundred. It may be as well to state here that the genus 

 Pelargonium consists of shrubby perennial plants, having irregular 

 flowers, the two upper petals being largest ; while Geranium is 

 composed of herbaceous plants, with regular flowers, all the 

 petals being equal. If a Pelargonium flower be examined, the 

 spur which is free in the nearly-allied Tropaeolums will here be 

 found adnate to the pedicel of the flower, so as to be scarcely 

 discernible. The seeds in this order are solitary and devoid 

 of albumen, which distinguishes them from Oxalids, where the 

 seeds are numerous in each carpel, and albuminous. The 

 membranous stipules are a further character of the group. 

 There are five distinct type-sections of Pelargonium : 



1. P. grandiflorum or P. cucullatum, types from which our large- 

 flowered Show and Fancy or French Pelargoniums have originated. 



2. P. zonale and P. inquinans, types from which scarlet Zonals, Nose- 

 gays, Tom Thumbs, Tricolors, Bronze Zonals, &c., have originated. 



3. The tuberous or swollen-stemmed class, as P. triste, P. oblongattim, 

 &c. (Much improvement may be worked in this section.) 



4. The ivy- leaved group, represented by the descendants of P. hederce- 

 folium, P. peltatum, or P. lateripes. 



5. The cut-leaved, oak-leaved, or scented-leaved group, which will 

 breed with Group No. I, just as Group No. 4 and No. 2 may be blended 

 by the hybridist. P. quercifolium, P. glutinosum, and P. filicifolium are 

 types. 



Pelargonium.* A genus of shrubby-habited plants, popu- 

 larly grown in gardens as Geraniums, and principally natives of 

 the Cape of Good Hope; indeed, the Cape flora boasts of 170 

 species. Two are Australian, one or two natives of St Helena, 

 and several others are found in northern and tropical Africa. 

 Very few of these species are now generally grown in gardens. 

 There are, however, many Cape species preserved at Kew; 

 and Messrs E. G. Henderson and Sons cultivate about fifty 

 of the more showy species, and also some of the early hybrid 

 forms figured as species by Sweet in his * Geraniaceae ' (a most 

 interesting work on this genus, published in 1820-30), and by 

 other authors. All who are interested in the history of the 

 Pelargonium should see a paper contributed to the ' Gardeners' 

 Chronicle/ 1875, P- 97~ I2 9> fr m which we learn that P. zonale 



* See 'Pelargonium,' par Thibaut (Paris: 26 Rue Jacob); Sweet's 

 ' Geraniaceje ; ' and Andrews's 'Geraniums.' Many of the elegant old 

 species as first introduced are figured in the earlier numbers of the ' Bo- 

 tanical Magazine.' 



