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PB ACTIO AL GUIDE TO GABDEN PLANTS eeodium 



E. pelargoniflorum. — A native of 

 Anatolia with ovate cordate leaves 

 springing from the roots. Flowers in 

 summer, white spotted with purple, 8-10 

 in an umbel. 



Culture de. as above. 



E. petraeum. — A stemless Pyrenean 

 plant 3-6 in. high. Leaves rather smooth, 

 pinnate, with deeply divided segments, 

 and lance-shaped linear lobes. Flowers 

 in early summer, bright rose, or white 

 and veined, but not spotted. 



Culture Sc. as above. 



E. Reichardi. — A native of Majorca, 

 only 2-3 in. high, with small heart- 

 shaped, erenate, blunt, smoothish leaves. 

 Flowers from April to September, solitary, 

 white faintly veined with pink. 



Culture dc. as above. 



E. romanum. — A S. European biennial 

 6-9 in. high, with pinnate leaves having 

 ovate deeply cut leaflets. Flowers from 

 April to September, purplish, several on a 

 stalk. 



Culture dc. as above. 



E. trichomanefolium. — A stemless 

 plant 4-6 in. high, native of Mount 

 Lebanon. Leaves bipinnate, hairy, rather 

 glandular, with oblong linear lobes. 

 Flowers in summer, flesh-coloured, with 

 darker veins, about 4 on a stalk. 



Culture dc. as above. 



PELARGONIUM (Stork's Bill).— 

 A genus of smooth or downy perennial 

 herbs or undershrubs, with opposite, 

 rarely alternate leaves, entire, toothed, 

 lobed or variously cut, stipulate. Ped- 

 uncles axillary, opposite the leaves, 2 or 

 more on an umbel, rarely 1 -flowered. 

 Flowers irregular. Sepals 5, imbricate, 

 imited at the base, the upper one produced 

 into a spur adnate to the pedicel. Petals 

 5, or fewer by abortion, slightly peri- 

 gynous, dissimilar. Stamens 10, hypo- 

 gynous, imited at the base, usually 7 with 

 fertile anthers. Ovary 5-lobed, beaked. 



There are about 170 wild species of 

 Pelargonium, natives chiefly of S. Africa, 

 and requiring greenhouse treatment. The 

 genus is important because from it are 

 derived the various sections of Bedding 

 Pelargoniums (popularly called Gera- 

 niums used in hundreds of thousands 

 annually for beds and borders. The 

 species described below (with the exception 

 of P. endlicherianum and P. qucrci- 

 fnlium) are mentioned chiefly on account 



of their connection with the Bedding 

 ' Geraniums.' 



P. endlicherianum. — A native of the 

 Taurus Mountains in Asia Minor, l|-2 ft. 

 high. Lower leaves roundish, notched 

 and toothed, the upper ones more or less 

 deeply divided into 3-5 lobes. Flowers in 

 late summer, deep rose, large, the 2 larger 

 petals marked with 5 deep purple nerves. 



Culture a/nd Propagation. — This 

 species is hardy in mild parts of the 

 country, and thrives in sandy well-drained 

 loam in a warm nook of the rockery. It 

 may be increased by means of seeds or 

 cuttings in the same way as P. zonale 

 below. 



P. inquinans. — A native of S. Africa 

 about 2 ft. high, with roundish, kidney- 

 shaped, downy leaves, erenate on the 

 margins and almost undivided or very 

 slightly lobed. Flowers in summer, 

 varying from intense scarlet to rose and 

 white, many on a stalk ; petals broadly 

 obovate. 



This is the parent of the weU-known 

 Scarlet ' Geranium.' It has no dark zone on 

 the leaf as in P. zonale, and has broader 

 and shorter petals than that species. 



Culture dc. as for P. zonale below. 



P. peltatum (P. JiedertBfolium ; P. 

 lateripes ; P. scutatum). — AS. African 

 species, with shrubby, straggling stems, 

 and smooth or downy. Ivy-like, 5-angled or 

 lobed leaves. Flowers in summer, white 

 or red, varying in size, several on a 

 stalk. 



This is the origin of the weU-known 

 Ivy-leaf ' Geranium.' This section has 

 now become very valuable owing to the 

 numerous fine double and semi-double 

 flowered varieties. They are chiefly used 

 for window boxes, vases &c., but if planted 

 in round raised beds by themselves, with 

 their stems trailing over the surface of the 

 soil, they look very ornamental. Indeed 

 this is their natural method of growing, 

 and not trained up sticks or trellises upon 

 which they have to be carefully and 

 regularly tied to keep them in order. 

 Their culture and propagation are the 

 same as for the Zonal Pelargonium 

 described below. 



P. quercifolium. — This is so well 

 Isnown as the 'Oak -leaf Geranium' that 

 it deserves mention. It is a shrubby 

 plant 3 ft. or more high, with leaves cut 

 and lobed like small Oak-leaves, and 

 strongly scented. Flowers in summer. 



