The BRITISH HERBAL. 
20I 
rib i fo that they are only the incifions of an en- 
tire leaf. 
The ftalks are round, upright, firm, and 
jointed. 
Their joints are diflinguiHied by a little hollow 
membrane-, and from thefe rife the leaves. 
They refemble in all refpcds thofe from the 
root, except that they are fmaller. 
The flowers are large and beautiful ; and they 
arc difpofed in a kind of umbell: they ftand 
eight or ten togi^ther at the top of the flalk, and 
at the extremities of the branches : each has its 
long, flender footllalk, and thefe all grow from 
one point at the top of the main ftalk, where 
there is a fmail general cup. 
The beaks are very long, large, and fharp. 
It is a native of the Kaft Indies, and flowers 
in AugLift. 
The flowers toward evening have an extremely 
fragrant fmell, but in the day-time it is not per- 
ceived. 
Breynius calls it Geranium noSfu okns j^thi- 
opicum radice tuberofa foliis myrrhidis lalioribus. 
Others, Geranium irije. 
2. Silvery alpine Cranefbill. 
Geranium argenteum alpinum. 
The root is long, thick, brown and irregular. 
The leaves are numerous, fmall, and lup- 
ported on long footftalks: they are divided deep- 
ly into five or more fegments, and each of thefe 
is notched on the two fides near the top ; fo that 
the extremity has a trifid appearance. 
The ftalks are flender and weak : they rife in 
confiderable number among the leaves, and are 
of a pale whicifh colour : ti.ey divide toward 
the top into two parts, and iupports on each of 
the divifions a fmgle flower. 
The whole fl:alk is rarely above four inches in 
height ; fo that the flowers do not rife above the 
leaves. 
They are large, and of a beautiful fl:rong red, 
flriated with purple. 
The beaks arc fiiort and thick. 
It is not uncommon on the Alps, and flowers 
in July. 
C. Bauhine calls it Geranium argenteum Alpi- 
num. Others, Geranium Alpinum longius radica- 
tum ; and Geranium argenteum mantis haldl 
3. Candy Cranefbill. 
Geranium cnticum acu longijfma. 
The root is long, flender, and white. 
The firfl leaves are large, and are fupported 
on long footftalks : they are each compofed of 
two or three pairs of pinns, or fmaller leaves, 
with an odd one at the end ; this is much larger 
than the others, and they are all notched at the 
edges : their colour is a faint green. 
The llalk is round, thick, jointed, branched, 
of a pale green colour, and a foot and half high. 
The leaves that Hand on it perfedly refemble 
thofe at the, root, but they are fmaller. 
The flowers fland at the tops of the flralks and 
branches in tufts three, four, or five together 5 
and they are large, and of a bright red. 
N" 20. 
The beaks are extremely large, and loi-,g, 
fliarp-pointed, and of a greenifh yellow. 
It is freqyent in the Greek iflands, and flowers 
in June. 
C. Bauhine calls it Geranium acu longijfinia. 
4. Broad-leaved hairy Cranefbill. 
Geranium latifolium hirfutum. 
The root is long, flender, divided, and white. 
The firfl leaves rife in a thick tuft, and are 
unlike thofe of moft of this genus : they are 
large and broad, approaching to an oval figure, 
nightly ferrated, and notched irregularly about 
the edges : they are of a pale green covered with 
a Qight filvery down, and ftand on long, flender, 
hairy footfl:alks. 
The ftalk rifes in the centre, and is round, 
thick, upright, of a pale green, hairy, and % 
foot and half high. 
The leaves on it perfe£lly refemble thofe from 
the root: they are fmall, and fofc to the touch. 
The flowers grow in tufcs fix or eight together 
at the top of the ftalk, and at the exrremities of 
the branches : they are fmall, and of a pale red. 
The beaks are fmall, and very flender. 
It is a native of Italy, and flowers in July. 
C. Bauiiine calls it Geranium folio aUb<£dC. O- 
thers. Geranium nialacoides, and Gcraiiium malva* 
LL'um. 
Linnaeus fuppofes ouv little Jea cranejhill^ before 
defcribed, to be the fame fpecies with this; but 
it differs in the form and difpofition of the 
flowers, and in the ftru£ture of the beaks. 
This author has alfo a much more extraor- 
dinary conjecture on the prefent head ; he ima- 
gines that this plant, the candy cranejlill, and the 
mujk cranejbillt and common pinnated crancjhill with- 
out fcent are all the fame fpecies originally. 
This is bringing in confufion, and without any 
foundation in nature or reafon. If thefe five 
plants be not diftinift fpecies the ftudent will 
never know what to call by that name : he needs 
only be referred to the feveral figures here, or 
to the plants as they grow, to fee that they differ 
as palpably, and as eiTentially, as the fpecies of 
any other genus. If thefe were all originally 
one, nature has given us no means of knowing 
which are truly diftinft: but thefe are innova^ 
tions that will foon be flighted. 
5. Stinking Cranefbill. 
Geranium fatidum. 
The root is tuberous and oblong j of a redifh 
colour, and very ftinking fmell. 
The leaves are fmall, but beautifully divided, 
or, more properly fpeaking, compofed of many 
others : each genera! leaf is fupported on a fliorc 
flender footftalk, and is formed of four or five 
pairs of pinna; fet on a middle rib, with an odd 
one at the end; and each of thefe pinn^ is again 
compofed of five or fix pairs of minute, oval 
leaves fet on a middle rib, with an odd one at its 
end. 
The ftalks are numerous, flender, and weak : 
fometimes they are altogether naked, but fome- 
times they have a couple of little leaves toward 
their lower part. 
I F f f The 
