iS lAMILIAI; (iAEBEX FLOWERh. 



R(jljerliuHiiiii) and the sedate but lovely blue gvranium 

 cif the valleys {GeranUun prati-uxe) being notable examples 

 familiar to every wayside botanist. The generic- name 

 implies that the cluster of seeds when about to separate 

 rei:)resents a crane's bill, and a common name of the herb 

 Robert is "Robert-leaved crane^s-bill." There is another 

 group classed under the generic term Erodiumj the heron's 

 billj and the best-known plant of this genus is the hemlock- 

 leaved heron's-bill {Erodiuiii cicuianinn), a sweet little 

 thing bearing a near resemblance to the herb R,obert. 



It must be understood, therefore, that our ordinary talk 

 about geraniums refers to pelargoniums, and it will be 

 waste of time to fight a battle in defence of the misuse of 

 the term geranium, because the botanists have settled the 

 matter, and there is no court of appeal against them. 



The pelargoniums of our gardens are seen by the must 

 casual observer to be divisible into two great classes. One 

 class may be considered to have for a centre the (perhaps) 

 apocryphal Felargoaiinu ■■i/ji'dostmi. Tliis group has green 

 leaves that are much wrinkled and deeply notched, and 

 large flowers that are sometimes spotted on all the five 

 petals, but usually the two top petals alone are spotted, and 

 these often are heavily and richly blotched with black, 

 maroon, or crimson. The other class comprehends the 

 plants familiarly called " zonals," the central species being 

 Pelargonium zonule, a somewhat ugly thing, with coarse 

 lea\'es that are distinctly zoned, and flowers that are 

 distinguished by the narrowness of the petals, so that they 

 are properly, though perhaps disrespectfully, spoken of 

 as " windmills." 



This possible parent of the zonale group was introduced 

 from the Cape in the year 1710, but many years elapsed 



