GERA NIA CEA E. 573 



Family i. GERANlACEAE J. St. Hil. 

 Geranium Family. 



Herbs with alternate or opposite leaves, and axillary solitary or clus- 

 tered perfect regular flowers. Stipules commonly present. Sepals 5 

 (rarely fewer), mostly persistent. Petals of the same number, hypogy- 

 nous. Stamens as many as the sepals, or 2-3 times as many, distinct, 

 anthers 2-celled, versatile. Ovary 1, usually 5-lobed and 3-celled , ovules 

 1 or 2 in each cavity. Fruit capsular. Embryo straight or curved ; 

 cotyledons flat or plicate. About 10 genera and 450 species, natives of 

 temperate regions, most abundant in South Africa. 



Anthers 10, rarely 5 ; carpel-tails not hairy inside. 1. Geranium. 



Anthers 5 ; carpel-tails bearded inside. 2. Erodium, 



1. GERANIUM L. 



Herbs with stipulate, palmately lobed, cleft or divided leaves, and axillary 1-2- 

 flowered peduncles. Flowers regular, 5- merous. Sepals 5, imbricated. Petals 5, 

 hypogynous, imbricated. Stamens 10 (rarely 5), generally 5 longer and 5 shorter. 

 Ovary 5-lobed, 5 -celled, beaked with the compound style. Ovules 2 in each 

 cavity. Capsule elastically dehiscent, the 5 cavities i-seeded and long tailed by 

 the persistent style-divisions which are naked on the inner side. [Greek, a crane, 

 from the long beak of the fruit.] About 170 species, widely distributed in temper- 

 ate regions. Besides the following, some 6 others occur in western N. Am. 



Perennial ; flowers 2.5 cm. broad or more. 1. G. maculatum. 



Annuals or biennials ; flowers 4-12 mm. broad. 



Leaves 3-divided ; segments pinnatifid, thin. 2. G . Robertianum. 



Leaves pedately lobed or dissected. 



Peduncles i-flowered. 3. G. Sibiricum. 



Peduncles 2-flowered. 



Peduncles longer than the leaves; carpels smooth. 4. G. columbinum. 

 Peduncles short; carpels rugose or hairy. 

 Seeds reticulated or pitted. 



Glandular-pubescent with long white hairs. 5. G. rotundifolium. 

 Pubescent with short hairs; leaves deeply lobed. 



Flowers pale purple ; seeds minutely reticulated. 

 Beak short-pointed; inflorescence compact. 



6. G. Carolinianum. 

 Beak long-pointed; infloresence loose. 



7. G. Bicknellii. 

 Flowers deep purple ; seeds pitted. 8. G. dissectum. 



Seeds smooth or nearly so. 



Stamens 5 ; carpels hairy, not rugose. 9. G. pusillum. 



Stamens 10 ; carpels glabrate, rugose. 10. G. tnolle. 



1. Geranium maculatum L. Wild or Spotted Crane's-bill. Alum- 

 root. (I. F. f. 2239.) Pubescent with spreading or retrorse hairs, 3-6 dm. high. 

 Basal leaves 7.5-15 cm. wide, deeply 3-5-parted, the divisions obovate, cuneate, 

 variously toothed and cleft; stem-leaves 2, similar to the basal ones; peduncles 

 1-5, elongated; ultimate pedicels 2.5-5 cm - l° n g; flowers rose-purple; sepals awn- 

 pointed, villous, ciliate; petals woolly at the base; beak of the fruit 2.5-3.75 cm. 

 long; carpels pubescent; seed reticulate. In woods, Newf. to Manitoba, Neb.. 

 Ga., Ala. and Kans. April-July. 



Geranium pratense L., the meadow geranium of Europe, is reported as escaped 

 from cultivation in Quebec and N. B. It differs from the preceding by its blue-purple 

 flowers and narrower lobes of the leaf-segments. 



2. Geranium Robertianum L. Herb Robert. Red Robin. (I. F. f. 

 2240.) Glandular-villous. weak, extensively branching, 1.5-4.5 dm. high, heavy- 

 scented. Leaves ovate orbicular; peduncles slender, 2-flowered, 2.5-7.5 cm. long; 

 pedicels divaricate, 1.25 cm. long; sepals acuminate and awn-pointed; flowers 

 red-purple, about 12 mm. broad, petals narrow-clawed; beak of the fruit about 



