358 THE GREEN-HOUSE. [chap. xi. 
me-not; and when the seed is ripe, the 
valves of the seed pod burst asunder and 
curl up. There are almost innumerable 
species, hybrids, and varieties of Pelargo¬ 
niums grown in our green-houses, so mixed 
up together by hybridizing, that it is very 
difficult even to class them. One of the 
hardiest kinds, which has numerous descen¬ 
dants, is the Horse-shoe Geranium, Pelargo¬ 
nium zonale; and another, P. inquinans, 
is the common scarlet. The rose-scented 
Geranium, P. graveolens, and oak-leaved, 
P. quercifolium, with their numerous descen¬ 
dants, the flowers of which are all crimson, 
striped with brown so very dark that it looks 
almost black, are also tolerably hardy. All 
the shrubby kinds which are generally 
kept in green-houses, require a rich loamy 
soil, that is, about half very rotten dung, 
and half sandy loam, to make them produce 
fine flowers. When the flowering season is 
over, the plants are cut down, and cuttings 
made from them. (See page 82.) When 
these have struck, they are potted in a com¬ 
post of vegetable mould and sand, and con¬ 
tinue in this soil till February or March, 
