Refugium Botanicum.'] 
[Septemher, 1870. 
TAB. 218. 
Natural Order Geraniace.^:. 
Tribe Pelargonie^. 
Genus Pelargonium, L'Herit. 
Section Polyactium. 
P. HERACLEiFOLTUM {Lodd. Bot. Cab. t. 437). Piadice tuberoso, caule 
brevi herbaceo, stipulis deltoideis, foliis breviter pubescentibus 
obloDgo-deltoideis dimidio superiore profunde pinnatifidis, deorsum 
pinnatis, segmentis late lobatis irregulariter inciso-dentatis, pedun- 
culis valde elongatis, umbellis 9 — 12-floris, bracteis linearibus, 
calycis segmentis linearibus reiiexis petalis albidis vix striatis 
oblanceolatis subsequalibus duplo brevioribus. — Siveet. Ger. t. 211 ; 
Harv. Fl. Cap. i. p. 272, ex p) arte. 
A native of the Cape of Good Hope. 
Root oblong, tuberous. Stem sbort, herbaceous, thinly clothed 
with spreading gray hairs. Stipules deltoid, a quarter of an inch 
long. Petioles an inch to two inches long, thinly pubescent. 
Leaves herbaceous, thinly clothed, especially beneath, with soft 
gray pubescence, oblong-deltoid, the lower ones five to six inches 
long, the upper half deepl}^ pinnatifid, the lower lobes free, some- 
times petiolate and remote from the others, the broad segments 
irregularly toothed, the upper surface mid-green, the lower 
glaucous. Peduncles erect, softty thinly pubescent, six to nine 
inches long. Umbels nine- to twelve-flowered. Bracts linear, 
two to three lines long. Floivering p)edicels, including the calyx- 
spur, nine to twelve lines long. Calyx-segments linear, four to 
five lines deep, reflexed when the flower expands. Petals twice 
the calyx-segments, oblanceolate, whitish, blunt, scarcely at all 
striped, subequal. Filaments ten, seven antheriferous. Beak of 
the fruit sixteen to eighteen lines long. 
Tab. 218. — 1, single flower, magnified. — J. G. B. 
I received the seeds of this very interesting species of Pelar- 
gonium from South Africa, collected there by Mr. Thos. Cooper. 
It flowers freely, and thrives if potted in a mixture of light turfy 
loam and sandy peat. The pots should be well drained, and the 
plant should be grown in a warm airy greenhouse, with a liberal 
supply of water while in the growing state, and but little when 
the plant is resting. The pale cream-colour of the petals, without 
spots or stripes, is unusual and remarkable. — W. W. S. 
