NAT. ORDER. GERANIACEJE. 
79 
the only part used in medicine ; but the plant, as an ornament, is 
considered as one of the first in the flower garden. 
Propagation and Culture. Few genera of plants exhibit more 
fully the industry of the cultivator, or demonstrate more clearly the 
control he exercises in producing varieties, than in the case of the 
Geranium or Pelargonium. Hundreds of varieties, which are to be 
met with in the collections of florists, are the fruits of his ingenuity ; 
for, however strange it may appear, it is a positive fact that not above 
a dozen true species are to be recognized amongst them. It is, 
therefore, now only in the strictly botanical collections that true spe- 
cies are to be seen, they having given place to sub-species, originated 
by hybridizing. With the exception of three or four species, the 
whole of this splendid tribe, amounting to nearly three hundred re- 
corded species, and above five hundred sub-varieties, have been either 
introduced or originated in this country and Europe within the last 
fifty or sixty years. 
The tuberous rooted kinds, or those belonging to sections Hoa- 
rea, Dimacrina, and Seymour ia^ thrive best in an equal mixture of 
light turfy soil, peat and sand ; and, when in a dormant state, require 
to be kept quite dry, which commences as soon as they have done 
flowering, and have ripened their seeds ; after which time they re- 
quire to be kept in a good situation, out of the reach of frost, but as 
soon as they begin to push afresh, all the old mould should be taken 
out of the pots, and from their roots ; they should then be potted 
afresh, in new mould. In potting them, care must be taken not to 
bury the heart of the plants. After this they require a little 
water, and, as they grow, watered whenever they are dry ; and if 
the pots get filled with roots, they must be shifted into larger ones. 
The best method of increasing them, is by the little tubers which is- 
sue from the old bulbs, planted singly, in small pots, with their tops 
above the surface, and kept dry until they begin to grow, when they 
should be watered. 
