GEOP 



(£!)£ CreaSttrp of SSotang, 



528 



fruits are very small, and contain a single - 

 horny seed. None of the species possess 

 any particular features of interest ; the 

 only useful purposes to which they are ap- 

 plied being that of supplying leaves for 

 thatching huts, and flexible stems for 

 walking-sticks. [A. S.] 



GEOPHILA. A genus of Cinchonaceoe, 

 called ' earth-loving ' from the creeping ha- 

 bit of the plants. The species are natives of 

 tropical America and the East Indies, and 

 somewhat resemble violets in their mode 

 of growth. They are nearly allied to Psy- 

 chotria, from which they are distinguished 

 by their flowers being in heads surrounded 

 by a few bracts, and by the calyx being j 

 more deeply divided into five linear spread- 

 ing segments. [M. T. M.] 



GEORCHIS. A small genus of orchids 

 found growing among moss, &c, in the 

 damp woods of India and Java. The spe- 

 cies have all the habit of Goodyera, and, 

 according to Dr. Lindley, differ from that 

 genus in the very sharp-pointed anthers 

 and stigma, the latter of which splits into 

 two long bristle-like arms. The slender 

 stems throw out roots at intervals, and 

 bear a number of ovate or heart-shaped 

 leaves one to three inches in length, while 

 the small white or pink flowers are disposed 

 in terminal spikes. [A. A. B.] 



GEORGINA. A name given by Willde- 

 now to the genus Dahlia, but not generally 

 adopted. 



GEOTHERMOMETER. A thermometer 

 constructed especially for determining the 

 temperature of the earth. 



GERANIACE^E. (Cranesbills.) A natural 

 order of thalamifloral dicotyledons, cha- 

 racteristic of Lindley's geranial alliance 

 of hypogynous Exogens. Herbs or shrubs 

 with swollen joints, and opposite or alter- 

 nate leaves, which are usually palmately 

 veined and lobed, often stipulate. Sepals 

 five imbricate, one of them sometimes 

 spurred ; petals five, with claws, contorted 

 in bud ; stamens usually ten, united by 

 their filaments, some occasionally sterile; 

 ovary of five bi-ovular carpels placed round 

 an elongated axis, to which the styles ad- 

 here. Fruit formed of five one-seeded car- 

 pels, which finally separate from the base 

 of the central axis or beak, and curve up- 

 wai'ds by means of the attached styles ; seed 

 exalbuminous : embryo curved and doubled 

 up, with plaited cotyledons. The plants 

 are distributed over various parts of the 

 world. The species of Pelargonium abound 

 at the Cape of Good Hope ; those of Gera- 

 nium and Erodium are chiefly nntives of Eu- 

 rope, North America, and Northern Asia. 

 They have astringent and aromatic quali- 

 ties, many of them are fragrant, and some 

 have a musky odour. They are sometimes 

 tuberous, and the tubers are eaten. There 

 are numerous hybrids among the plants 

 of this order, and it is not easy to deter- 

 mine the exact number of species, but 

 about 540 are recorded. Erodium, Gera- 



nium, Pelargonium, and Monsonia, are ex- 

 amples. [J. H. B.] 



GERANIUM. The Cranesbills, whose 

 name is derived from the long central beak 

 of the fruit, form a large genus of the Ge- 

 raniacece, distinguished" by having regular 

 flowers, ten stamens with the filaments 

 united at the base, and five carpels each 

 tipped by a long glabrous awn (the per- 

 sistent style), which becomes recurved 

 when it separates from the central axis, 

 not spirally twisted as in Erodium. They 

 are herbs, very rarely undershrubs, grow- 

 ing in all temperate climates, having stems 

 with enlarged joints and palmately lobed 

 cleft or divided leaves, the lower ones 

 stalked, the upper sessile. The one or two- 

 flowered peduncles have small bracts at 

 the base of the pedicels, and the flowers 

 are often large and brightly coloured. Most 

 of the species are astringent, particularly 

 the North American G.maculatum or Alum- 

 root, the rhizome of which is used in its 

 native country instead of kino. The Tas- 

 manian G. parviflorum is there called the 

 Native Carrot, and its tubers used as food. 

 There are about a dozen British species. 

 The genus Pelargonium, to which belong 

 the popular Geraniums of our gardens, is 

 distinguished from the Cranesbills, by its 

 irregular flowers, and adherent calycine 

 spur. [J. T. SO 



GERANIUM, INDIAN. A term used by 

 perfumers for Andropogon Nardus. — , 

 NETTLE. A popular name for C'oleus fru- 

 ticosus. 



GERANION. (Ft.) Geranium, including 

 Pelargonium and Erodium. 



GERARDIA. A genus of Scrophulariacece, 

 consisting of annual or perennial herbs, 

 rarely shrubby at the base, and most if 

 not all the species probably more or less 

 parasitical on the roots of other plants. 

 The leaves are opposite, or the upper ones 

 alternate, all entire or very rarely cut. 

 The flowers, sessile or pedicellate in the 

 upper axils, or forming short terminal ra- 

 cemes, are usually purple or pink, and 

 downy outside. The calyx is campanulate 

 and five-toothed ; the corolla obliquely tu- 

 bular or campanulate, with five broad more 

 or less spreading lobes ; the stamens four, 

 didynamous, not longer than the corolla, 

 with two-celled anthers. The capsule opens 

 loculicidally in two valves, and contains 

 numerous small seeds. There are about 

 two dozen species known, natives of 

 North or South America, and most of them 

 very handsome. All attempts to cultivate 

 them have, however, failed. The dried spe- 

 cimens usually turn quite black. 



GERBE-D'OR. (Fr.) Solidago canaden- 

 sis. 



GERBERA. A genus of that group of 

 the Compositce called Mutisiaceo?., in which 

 all the florets are two-lipped. The genus 

 is almost entirely African, and is repre- 

 sented in greatest numbers at the Cape. 

 Upwards of a dozen species are known, all 

 stemless perennial herbs, with their leaves 



