Geranium. GERANIACEJS. 121 



the pedicels half an inch or more in length. Flowers 2-3 lines in diameter. Petals obovate, 

 pale purple. Alternate stamens usually sterile. 



Sandy soils, Long Island, a few miles from Brooklyn, and in the western part of the State. 

 Fl. May - August. Our plant agrees well with European specimens of G. pusillum, and is 

 possibly only naturalized in this country. 



4. Geranium Robertianum, Linn. Herb Robert. 



Diffusely branched, hairy; leaves ternately or quinately parted ; segments pinnatifid ; lobes 

 mostly incised or toothed ; petals entire, twice the length of the mucronatc-awned sepals ; 

 carpels wrinkled, not hairy; seeds smooth. — Willd. sp. 3. p. 714; Pursh, fi. 2. p. 449 ; 

 Bigel. fl. Bost. p. 257 ; Torr. compend. p. 254 ; DC. prodr. 1 . p. 644 ; Torr. <J- Gr. fl. N. 

 Am. l.p. 207. 



Stems usually several from one root, 6-15 inches long, of a dark red color, brittle, hirsute 

 with spreading hairs. Leaves about 2 inches in diameter ; lower ones with 5, upper ones 

 with 3 divisions ; ultimate segments mucronatc. Peduncles long and slender. Flowers about 

 half an inch in diameter. Sepals purplish. Petals obovate-spatulate, purple, sometimes pale 

 or nearly white. 



Moist rocky situations ; common. June - October. — The whole plant exhales a heavy and 

 rather disagreeable odor, especially when bruised or handled. 



2. ERODIUM. L'Herit. ; Endl. gen. 6045. BERON'S-BILL or STORK'S-BILL. 



[ From the Greek, crodivs, a heron ; the fruit rcscmbhng the head and beak of that bird.] 



Sepals equal, regular. Petals 5, mostly equal. Stamens 10; the 5 exterior (opposite the 

 petals) shorter and. sterile ; the perfect ones with a nectariferous gland at the base. Per- 

 sistent styles bearded on the inside, at length spirally twisted. — Peduncles axillary or 

 opposite the leaves : flowers umbellate. Cotyledons sometimes pinnately lobed. 



1. Erodium cicutarium, Smith. Hemlock Heron's-biil. 



Stem prostrate or diffuse, hairy ; leaves pinnately divided ; segments sessile, pinnatifid, 

 incised or acute; peduncles several flowered ; petals unequal. — Eng. hot. t. 1768; DC 

 prodr. l.p. 646 ; Hook.fl. Bor.-Am. 1. p. 1 16 ; Torr. ^ Gr.fl. N. Am. l.p. 208. Geranium 

 cicutarium, Linn. 



Leaves 2 - 4 inches long, oblong, with numerous pinnatifid lobes. Flowers as large as 

 in G. pusillum. 



Gravelly shore of Oneida Lake, near Rotterdam ; abundant. May - June. Probably 

 introduced. 



[Flora.] 16 



