The Natural System of Botany. 213 



which are so much prized for their fragrance and beauty, 

 belong to the genus Pelargonium. Several species of the real 

 Geranium are natives of North America, and one, G. mactda- 

 m , usually called Cranesbill, is a common inhabitant of the 

 w00( Js and fields o£ the Northern States. This plant, like 

 other Geraniums, has leaves lacinated, or cut in three or five 

 parts, on petioles which are much swollen at the base where 

 they join the stem. This is a character of the whole order. 

 The flowers are in an umbel, or rather would be in an umbel 

 if more than two grew from the same point. The sepals are 

 five, and the petals five, purple, and strongly veined. The 

 stamens are ten, disposed in two rows, of which the outer is 

 shortest. In the cultivated Geraniums, or Pelargoniums, there 

 is less regularity. The stamens are generally less than ten in 

 number, and the two upper petals of the corolla are larger than 

 the three lower, and stand apart so as to make the flower 

 appear as if it had a pair of lips. The pistil of the Geranium 

 consists of five carpels clustered together round a prolongation 

 of the disk, and each cell contains a single seed. The styles 

 adhere together so as to form a single column, divided at the 

 top into five stigmas. The ripe fruit much resembles the head 

 and long bill of the Crane, whence are applied both the com- 

 mon name Cranesbill, and the name of the genus, which is 

 made of a Greek word signifying a crane. «» This singular 

 appearance is owing to a very simple circumstance. In most 

 plants the styles shrink up or fall off at the same time that the 

 flower fades, and by the time the fruit is ripe, entirely disap- 

 pear. But in the Geranium, the styles continue to grow and 

 harden as fast as the fruit itself; and when the latter is ripe, 

 the styles project from the ovaries in the form of a beak. At 

 the same time the seeds are shut up in the cavities of the 

 ovary, so that one would wonder how they are to get out. If 

 you would wish to catch the Geranium in the act of sowing its 

 seed, gather a little branch of the ripe fruit in a fine summer's 

 morning, before the dew is off, and place it in the sun. By 

 degrees the fruits will dry, and if you watch them, you will be 

 surprised by some of them, on a sudden, emitting a snapping 

 sound, and you may see first one and then another of the ova- 

 ries quickly curving upwards towards the top of the style, 



