^12 
PELARGONIUM Stapletoni. 
Miss C. Stapleton's Stork's-bill. 
P. Stapletoni, umbellis multifloris, petalis obcordatis, 
foliis cordatis quinquelobis undulatis obsolete cre- 
nulatis pubescentibus, stipulis persistentibus spine- 
scentibus rectis, caule crasso carnoso, tubo nectari- 
fero calyce quadruplo longiore. 
Stem shrubby, erect, thick and succulent, clothed 
with a hard glossy bark, not much branched. Leaves 
cordate, 5-lobed, very much undulate, shallowly 
notched, and clothed with a short hoary pubescence on 
both sides, points bent downwards. Petioles slightly 
flattened on the upper side, and rounded on the lower ; 
swollen at the base, thickly clothed with white villous 
hairs. Stipules subulate, straight, persistent, hardening 
into a spine. Scape branching, thickly clothed with 
long villous hairs, as are the peduncles and calyx. Pe- 
duncles cylindrical, bent towards the point, many flow- 
ered. Involucre of several unequal bractes, some ovate, 
others lanceolate, acute, fringed. Pedicles very short. 
Caly a: 5-cMt: upper segment oblong, obtuse, erect ; the 
others narrower and reflexed. Nectariferous tube about 
four times the length of the calyx, very hairy. Petals 5, 
obcordate, the two uppermost largest, rose-coloured, 
white near the base ; betwixt the two colours is a large 
bright purple spot, and below that are two or three light 
purple slightly branching specks : lower petals smaller, 
rose-coloured, with a bright red spot in the centre of 
each. Filaments 10, united at the base, six bearing an- 
thers, besides a large spatulate-shaped one, as in the 
others of this section: this produces no anther. Pollen 
yellow. Sti/le short, smooth. Stigmas 5, purple, re- 
flexed. 
