GERANIACEJE GERANIUM FAMILY 



Geranium maculatum, L. 



Magenta-Pink Wild Geranium, 



Spotted Geranium, 



May- June Wild Cranesbill, 



Spotted Cranesbill, 

 Stores-bill, 

 Crowfoot, 

 Dovefoot, 

 Sailor' s-knot, 

 Shameface, 

 Old Maid's-nightcap. 



Geranium: an old Greek name for a crane, the long beak 



of this fruit thought to resemble the bill of that bird. 

 Maculatum: Latin for spotted. 



THE PREFERRED HABITAT: damp ground, in the shade of 

 other plants. 



THE PLANT: erect, one foot to two feet high; the stem 

 unbranched or branching above, covered with short, soft 

 hairs. 



THE LEAVES: opposite; orbicular or heart-shaped; deeply 

 three to five parted, the divisions obcordate, wedge- 

 shaped, variously toothed and cleft; three inches to six 

 inches wide; petioled, the two stem leaves on shorter peti- 

 oles than the basal leaves. 



THE FLOWERS : in an umbel, rising on long stems from the 

 junction of the pair of leaves. The petals veined, whitish 

 at the centre, bearded. 



THE FRUIT: a carpel, the axis elongated into a beak. 

 173 



