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PELARGONIUM OR GERANIUM. 



PELARGONIUM OR GERANIUM. 



Pelargonium from pelargos, a stork, and Geran- 

 ium from geranos, a crane ; their capsules may be 

 fancied to resemble the head and beak of those 

 birds, are names given to genera of plants of the 

 order Geraniacece. As florists disregard the bot- 

 anical distinctions between them, and most plants 

 belonging to the genus Pelargonium are generally 

 known as Geranium we will follow the common usage 

 of names. They are principally native of the Cape 

 of good Hope. By artificial hybridization, or cut- 

 ting out the anthers of the plant intended for the 

 female parent before they burst, and impregnating 

 the stigmas with the pollen of another an endless va- 

 riety of Geraniums have been produced. They are 

 to be seen in some form in every collection of 

 plants. A New England lady with only the ordi- 

 nary window room of a country home has cultivated 

 over a hundred varieties. 



The Pelargonium or Geranium in cultivation may 

 be divided into four classes having a marked differ- 

 ence in their appearance or habit of growth, and in 

 order to simplify the subject we will group them as 

 follows : — 



The Zouales, including the Silver-leaved, Bronze- 

 leaved, Tricolor, and Lilliputian varieties both sin- 

 gle and double ; the most extensively cultivated 

 class. The beautiful foliage of many of these is a 

 bouquet in itself, they are also constant bloomers, 

 and may be termed the " marked-foliage " class. 



