2 1 
Dicotyledons with Polypetalous Flower's. 
Natural Order 
GERANIACEJE. Tab. 18. 
Diagnosis.— Herbs with alternate or opposite simple stipulate leaves. 
Stamens hypogynous, io or fewer. Ovary 5-lobed, 5-celled. Fruit 
separating into cocci from an elongate persistent axis. 
Distribution. —A small Natural Order, most numerous in temperate regions. Of the three 
principal genera, Crane’s-bill (Geranium) is widely dispersed, Pelargonium almost exclusively confined 
to the Cape of Good Hope, and Stork’s-bill ( Erodium) concentrated around the Mediterranean. 
Number of British Genera, 2 ; Species, 14. 
FLOWERS regular, or irregular in Pelargonium. 
Sepals 5, distinct or nearly so, imbricate ; the posterior sepal spurred in Pelargonium, the spur adnate through¬ 
out to the pedicel. 
PETALS 5, twisted-imbricate, equal or unequal in Pelargonium. 
STAMENS io in Crane’s-bill, 3 or more imperfect in Pelargonium, S in Stork’s-bill; free or shortly monadelphous. 
Fruit, cocci with long elastic tips curling upwards from a persistent axis. 
Seeds with or without albumen ; cotyledons often folded. 
USES, &c.—None of the species are of much economic importance. Several species of Cape Pelargonium, 
especially varieties and hybrids derived from Pelargonium inquinans, P. cucullatum , P. zonale and others, in 
conservatories, and the “Scarlet Geraniums” of our borders, take a foremost rank amongst ornamental flowers. A 
few perennial European species of Crane’s-bill are also in cultivation. 
