February  23,  1899. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
153 
Rule  xi.  was  also  proposed  to  be  altered  as  follows  : — 
Line  five,  after  the  word  “  require,”  make  the  following  addition  : — 
“  Not  more  than  two  children  of  the  same  family  ca)i  be  in  receipt  of  the 
benefit  of  the  Fund  at  the  same  time.” 
Both  these  propositions,  after  being  duly  seconded,  were  carried 
unanimously. 
Now  that  the  annual  general  meeting  of  this  Fund  is  over,  the  new 
Secretary  has  been  unanimously  elected,  the  old  one  properly  and 
warmly  thanked,  as  well  as  put  on  to  the  Committee,  and  the  election  of 
nine  children  is  over,  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  there  will  be  seen  during  the 
ensuing  year  a  very  great  revival  of  interest  in  the  Fund,  and  that  we 
may  see  during  that  time  an  increase  of  some  500  gardener  subscribers  at 
least,  for  it  is  little  less  than  a  scandal  that  the  gardeners  of  the  kingdom, 
in  whose  interest  specially  the  Fund  was  started,  support  it  so  indifferently. 
When  it  becomes  a  case  of  comparative  indifference  or  “  don’t  caredness,” 
those  who  have  been  other  than  gardener  subscribers  naturally  ask 
whether  it  is  worth  while  to  maintain  the  Fund  longer.  It  was  a  deplorable 
fact  that  of  nineteen  children  nominated  for  election  this  year,  not  in  one 
case  had  the  deceased  father  been  a  subscriber,  even  of  so  small  a  sum  as 
5s.  per  annum. 
To  what  is  this  indifference  on  the  part  of  gardeners  due  ?  Can  any¬ 
one  explain  it?  Will  any  who  are  discontented  even  anonymously  tell 
plainly  the  reasons  why  they  refuse  to  become  subscribers  ?  It  would 
help  so  much  to  the  desired  end  were  complaints  or  difficulties,  if  such 
exist,  made  fully  known.  At  the  recent  election  out  of  nineteen  children 
nominated  two  (German),  having  left  the  country,  became  ineligible,  and 
one  other  was  rendered  such  by  the  passing  of  the  amendment  to  Rule  xi, 
which  now  invalidates  the  nomination  of  any  third  child  of  the 
same  family.  Thus,  the  nominations  being  reduced  to  sixteen,  and 
nine  were  elected,  it  is  seen  that  only  seven  failed,  and  probably  all 
these  w'ill  be  elected  next  year,  as  their  present  votes  count  then. 
—A.  D. 
THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  PELARGONIUM. 
The  history  of  the  Pelargonium  is  most  interesting,  and  many 
readers  of  the  Journal  of  Horticulture  may  be  unfamiliar  with  it.  A 
correspondent,  “G.  II.  W.,”  asks  us  to  give  this  history  in  brief.  We 
think,  however,  both  for  his  and  other  readers’  benefit,  we  cannot  do 
better  than  to  give  the  text  of  a  lecture  on  the  subject  that  was 
delivered  before  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  by  the  late  Mr.  Shirley 
Ilibberd  in  1880. 
The  Pelargonium  affords  a  subject  large  enough  to  occupy  as  many 
hours,  days,  or  even  weeks,  as  the  mere  moments  I  shall  devote  to  it  on  the 
present  occasion.  It  is  fortunate  1  am  not  bound  to  mention  Geraniums, 
for,  if  they  are  of  less  importance  than  Pelargoniums  they  take  us 
further  back  in  time,  and  to  do  justice  to  them  we  should  have  to 
rummage  amongst  the  old  books  and  fish  up  some  very  curious  memo¬ 
randa.  But  the  mention  of  the  Geranium  renders  it  necessary  to  begin 
with  definitions.  A  Pelargonium  is  not  a  Geranium,  although  often  so 
called.  The  true  Geraniums  are  for  the  most  part  herbaceous  plants 
inhabiting  the  northern  hemisphere,  and  the  Pelargoniums  are  lor  the 
most  part  shrubby  or  sub-shrubby  plants  of  the  southern  hemisphere. 
Let  us  for  a  moment  wander  amongst  the  pleasant  slopes  of  Parley 
Hale  in  Derbyshire,  or  by  the  banks  of  the  Clyde  or  the  Calder.  We 
shall  in  either  case  be  rewarded  by  seeing  vast  sheets  of  the  lovely 
Meadow  Crane’s-bill,  Geranium  pratense,  a  true  Geranium,  and  one  of 
the  sweetest  flowers  in  the  world.  In  the  rocky  recesses  of  Ashwood 
Dale,  or  on  the  banks  of  the  ‘‘bonny  Doon,’  we  may  chance  to  see  in 
high  summer  a  profusion  of  the  Herb  Robert,  Geranium  Robertianum, 
with  pink  flowers  and  purple  leaves,  a  piece  of  true  vegetable  jewellery. 
And,  once  more,  I  invite  you  to  an  imaginary  journey,  and  we  will  ride 
by  rail  from  Furness  to  Whitehaven  in  order  to  behold  on  the  railway 
bank,  more  especially  near  St.  Bees,  a  wondrous  display  of  the  crimson 
Crane’s-bill,  Geranium  sanguineum,  which  from  July  to  September 
forms  solid  sheets,  often  of  a  furlong  in  length,  of  the  most  resplendent 
colour. 
Now  let  us  fly  to  the  other  side  of  the  globe  and  alight  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  say  on  the  vast  desert  of  Karroo,  where  there 
is  much  sand,  much  sunshine,  and  little  rain.  Here,  in  the  midst  of 
desolation,  the  world  is  rich  with  flowers,  lor  the  heathy  scrub  that  occurs 
in  patches,  glowing  with  many  bright  hues,  consists  in  part  of  wild 
Pelargoniums,  which  often  take  the  form  of  miniature  deciduous  trees, 
although  in  the  valleys  nearer  the  coast,  where  more  rain  falls,  they  are 
evergreen  bushes. 
Very  different  in  their  characters  are  these  two  tribes  of  plants,  and 
they  are  not  less  different  in  their  constitution  and  aspects.  We  may 
regard  the  Geraniums  as  herbs  of  Europe,  and  the  Pelargoniums  as 
miniature  trees  of  Africa.  When  we  exaudne  the  flowers  we  find  the 
five  petals  of  a  true  Geranium  of  precisely  the  same  shape  and  size  ; 
but  the  five  petals  of  a  Pelargonium  are  not  always  so,  for  sometimes 
the  two  to])mo8t  are  the  largest  and  stand  apart  from  the  rest.  A 
Geranium  has  ten  stamens,  and  a  Pelargonium  has  only  seven.  These 
numbers  are  not  constant,  but  the  exceptions  are  of  no  consequence 
in  a  general  statement  of  the  case.  When  all  is  said  that  can  be  said 
about  the  differences  and  resemblances  of  the  several  families  of 
Geraniaceae,  there  remains  only  one  constant  and  unfailing  test  of  a 
true  Pelargonium,  and  that  is  the  nectariferous  tube  immediately  beneath 
the  flower,  and  running  down  one  side  of  the  flower-stalk. 
The  best  short  summary  of  the  history  of  the  Pelargonium  I  have  met 
with  is  in  the  Gardeners'  Chronicle  of  October  2nd,  1811.  It  gave  me  a 
clue  that  I  wanted  to  the  first-known  Pelargonium  as  an  inmate  of  an 
English  garden.  It  speaks  of  one  known  to  Gcrarde,  but  there  is  no 
mention  of  in  the  Gerarde  of  1597.  However,  at  page  '.US  of  Johnson’s 
Gerarde  of  1633  is  a  record  of  a  plant  called  Geranium  indicum,  “as  of 
Ia,te  brought  into  this  kingdom  by  the  industry  of  Mr.  .lohn  Tradescant ;  ” 
and  the  author  adds,  ‘‘  I  did  see  it  in  flower  about  the  end  of  .Tuly,  1632, 
being  the  first  time  that  it  hath  flowered  with  the  owner  thereof.’’  The 
plant  figured  by  Sweet  as  Pelargonium  filipendulifolium  (I.,  85)  is  a 
variety  of  Pelargonium  triste,  which  is  identical  with  the  Indian 
Geranium  of  Johnson’s  Gerarde.  Thus  we  determine  that  the 
first  flowering  of  a  Pelargonium  in  this  country  occurred  about  250 
years  ago. 
Here  it  may  be  proper  to  remark  that  there  are  a  few  true  Pelargoniums 
that  are  not  natives  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  P.  canariensis  is  a  native 
of  the  Canaries  ;  P.  australe  comes  from  the  Australian  continent ; 
P.  cotyledonis  is  found  wild  in  St.  Helena  ;  P.  Endlicherianum  is  Asiatic 
and  almost  European.  There  are  two  or  three  species  in  Abyssinia,  Rut 
P.  triste  is  a  Cape  plant  beyond  a  doubt,  and  it  is  most  agreeable  to  know 
that  our  first  Pelargonium  was  brought  into  the  country  by^^Jfc)|iia 
Tradescant,  of  whom  Parkinson  speaks  as  that  worthy,  qurious,  ;aritl 
diligent  searcher  and  preserver  of  all  Nature’s  rarities  and  jarietie^?^-  H 
was  in  all  probability  amongst  the  treasures  acquired  in  his  'voya^&'Td 
Barbary,  in  the  fleet  sent  out  against  the  Algerines  in  1620.  When,  in 
1629,  he  became  gardener  to  Henrietta  Maria,  Queen  of  Charles  I.,  this 
plant  was  in  his  famous  collection  at  Lambeth,  and  was  thence  sent  forth 
as  the  pioneer  of  the  Pelargoniums  and  the  Pelargonium  Society.* ,  As 
the  Cape  was  discovered  in  1497,  the  plant  had  123  years  to  complete  the 
journey  to  the  Mediterranean,  and  no  doubt  had  the  help  of  Portuguese 
traders  in  so  doing. 
It  is  singnlar  tnat  John  Tradescant,  who  was  an  Englishman,  born  in 
Worcestershire,  and  probably  of  French  extraction,  was  always  regarded 
as  a  Dutchman.  It  is  singular  in  this  connection,  because  subsequent  to 
his  introduction  of  the  first  Cape  Pelargonium,  the  Dutch  were  certainly 
the  introducers  of  a  dozen  or  more  species  that  soon  after  came  into 
Europe.  In  Dr.  James  Sherard’s  wonderful  garden  at  Eltham  there  were 
in  1732  half  a  dozen  species.  In  the  second  edition  of  Miller,  published 
1733,  there  are  twenty  species  of  African  “  Geraniums,”  and  these  are  all 
Cape  Pelargoniums.  This  brings  us  to  the  publication  by  Linnaeus  of  the 
“Genera  Plantarum  ”  in  1737,  and  the  “Species  Plantarum”  in  1753, 
when  the  twenty-five  species  of  Pelargoniums  known  to  him  were  described 
as  Geraniums  for  the  last  time  in  any  work  of  high  authority.  In  1787 
L’Heretier  distinguished  them  by  the  signs  I  have  already  mentioned.  In 
the  “Hortus  Kewensis,”  published  in  1812,  as  many  as  102  species  and 
hybrids  are  described  as  then  in  cultivation  at  Kew,  and  the  list  includes 
triste,  grossularoides,  zonale,  inquinans,  lateripes,  peltatum,  grandiflorum, 
quercifolium,  and  fulgidum. 
The  splendid  garden  varieties  of  Pelargoniums  that  afford  us  so  much 
delight  are  in  a  certain  sense  the  creations  of  human  skill.  Nature  never 
needed  such  things  and  did  not  trouble  to  produce  them.  They  are  the 
products  of  careful  systematic  hybridising  and  crossing,  and  they  represent 
the  talent  and  perseverance  of  the  florists  during  a  period  of  sixty-five 
v'cars — a  period  so  brief  considering  what  has  been  accomplished  that  it 
shrinks  to  a  moment  when  we  compare  the  original  wildings  with  the 
splendid  flowers  of  to-day.  In  the  year  1815,  or  thereabouts,  the 
amateurs  began  to  cross  the  species,  and  one  of  the  leaders  in  this 
delightful  work  was  Sir  Richard  Colt  Hoare,  who  obtained  a  considerable 
number  of  beautiful  hybrids.  The  work  was  taken  up  with  more  serious 
views  by  Mr.  Robert  Sweet,  the  author  of  a  number  of  valuable  illustrated 
works,  comprising  one  in  five  volumes  devoted  to  the  Geraniacem. 
The  large-flowering  or  florists’  Pelargoniums  are  reputed  to  be  the 
offspring  of  P.  speciosum.  It  must  be  evident  to  every  cultivator  of  these 
flowers  that  the  blood  of  a  score  or  so  of  species  is  mingled  in  them. 
P.  speciosum  was  introduced  in  1794,  but  it  has  no  place  under  this  name 
in  Sweeter  the  “Hortus  Kewensis.”  It  is  variously  described  as  pro¬ 
ducing  purple  and  white  flowers,  and  can  scarcely  be  said  to  have  a  history. 
It  the  question  be  asked.  What  is  Pelargonium  speciosum  ?  I  must  refer 
to  Sweet’s  description  of  P.  involucratum.  No.  33.  He  there  refers  to 
speciosum  of  Andrewsas  identical  with  his  own  superburo,  and  he  puts  the 
speciosum  of  Wildenow  out  of  court  altogether.  It  is  likely,  I  think,  that 
P.  spectabile  (136),  a  hybrid  raised  Irom  P.  cucullatum  and  P.  ignescens, 
and  P.  involucratum  (33),  raised  from  P.  cucullatum  and  P.  superbum, 
were  the  founders  of  the  florists’  race.  Certain  it  is  that  these  typical 
kinds  were  endowed  with  the  capability  of  varying  indefinitely,  and  with 
a  plastic  constitution  rendering  them  possible  sources  of  innumerable 
floral  surprises.  It  is  scarcely  an  exaggeration  to  say  that  amongst  the 
true  hybrids  there  are  at  least  fifty  that  might  be  the  parents  of  our 
exhibition  race.  But  to  clear  up  the  point  is  impossible,  for  in  very'  few 
instances  did  the  early  raisers  keep  any  record  that  could  be  referred  to 
for  settling  questions  of  pedigree. 
The  first  variety  figured  as  a  proper  florists’  flower  was  called  Geranium 
grandissima,  raised  by  Mr.  Widnall  ot  Grantchester.  The  portrait  ot 
lids  variety  appeared  in  the  “  Floricultural  Cabinet”  of  September  1st, 
1834.  It  was  a  pretty  flower,  with  rich  dark  top  petals  and  warm  blush- 
tinted  under  petals  ;  but  the  small  size  and  poor  torm  would  exclude  it 
Irom  any  collection  of  Pelargoniums  in  the  present  day.  What  a  marvellous 
advance  on  this  do  we  behold  in  the  latest  flowers  of  the  present  day. 
CTo  be  continued.) 
