| Geranium (Greek, crane; from the resemblance of the fruit to a crane's bill). Geraniaceae. Cbanesbill. Generally herbaceous plants, annual, biennial, and perennial. Widely cultivated in borders, and some species in the rockery, usually caulescent. | | Geranium (Greek, crane; from the resemblance of the fruit to a crane's bill). Geraniaceae. Cbanesbill. Generally herbaceous plants, annual, biennial, and perennial. Widely cultivated in borders, and some species in the rockery, usually caulescent. |
− | Leaves simple, alternate or opposite and much- lobed, sometimes almost radical: fls. regular; sepals 5, imbricated, often 3-nerved and mucronate; petals 5, often hairy or ciliate; stamens 10, in 2 rows; anthers 10; seeds when ripened separated from the ovary and with its awn bent sinuously. The genus Erodium, its nearest ally, has but the inner row of stamens furnished with anthers and the awn of the seed is bent spirally. The geraniums of common speech are classed in the genus Pelargonium, having at the side of the pedicel a distinct narrow tube and zygomorphic fls. — The genus Geranium has over 250 species, found in the temperate zones particularly of the northern hemispheres, very few in the tropics. The roots of some, as G. maculatum, find use in medicine on account of their astringency. Thrive well in ordinary garden soil, and are propagated by seeds and divisions of roots. The best botanical account is that of R. Knuth in Engler's Das Pflanzenreich, hft. 53 (1912), and by Small and Hanks in N. Amer. Flora, Vol. 25, 1907, for the N. American species. A beautifully illustrated account of the genus is by Sweet (1820-30) in which special stress is laid on cultivation. There are 500 colored plates, and, where possible, these arc cited in the following account, thus, S. 197.=Sweet, Geraniaceae, plate 197. | + | Leaves simple, alternate or opposite and much- lobed, sometimes almost radical: fls. regular; sepals 5, imbricated, often 3-nerved and mucronate; petals 5, often hairy or ciliate; stamens 10, in 2 rows; anthers 10; seeds when ripened separated from the ovary and with its awn bent sinuously. The genus Erodium, its nearest ally, has but the inner row of stamens furnished with anthers and the awn of the seed is bent spirally. The geraniums of common speech are classed in the genus Pelargonium, having at the side of the pedicel a distinct narrow tube and zygomorphic fls. — The genus Geranium has over 250 species, found in the temperate zones particularly of the northern hemispheres, very few in the tropics. The roots of some, as G. maculatum, find use in medicine on account of their astringency. Thrive well in ordinary garden soil, and are propagated by seeds and divisions of roots. The best botanical account is that of R. Knuth in Engler's Das Pflanzenreich, hft. 53 (1912), and by Small and Hanks in N. Amer. Flora, Vol. 25, 1907, for the N. American species. A beautifully illustrated account of the genus is by Sweet (1820-30) in which special stress is laid on cultivation. There are 500 colored plates, and, where possible, these arc cited in the following account, thus, S. 197. equals Sweet, Geraniaceae, plate 197. |
− | The following are unknown as to botanical affinities or are insufficiently known in Amer. G. balkanum. Hurt. A hardy plant, with fragrant foliage: fls. on radical sts., 1 in. across, dark magenta. June.—G. heldreichii, Hort. Orange-colored fls.=(?).—G. lowii, Hort. 2-2 ½ ft.: fls. bright rose with violet center. Name unknown in botanical literature.—G. prostratum, Hort. Fls. purple. Advertised as "good rockery subject."=(?).—G. sylvaticum. Linn. About 2 ft. high, with a soft-haired, upright, round st.: lvs. 5-7-parted, lobes oblong, deeply toothed: fls. purple or violet. June, July. The common wood geranium of Eu. A white-fld. form G. sylvaticum Album, Hort., is known. Gn. 72, p. 178.—G. tuberosum, Linn. Tuberous-rooted, 9-15 in. high, with st. at base naked: lvs. many-lobed, linear and serrate: pedicels 1-2-fld., fls. large, violet. May. S. Eu. | + | The following are unknown as to botanical affinities or are insufficiently known in Amer. G. balkanum. Hurt. A hardy plant, with fragrant foliage: fls. on radical sts., 1 in. across, dark magenta. June.—G. heldreichii, Hort. Orange-colored fls.~(?).—G. lowii, Hort. 2-2 ½ ft.: fls. bright rose with violet center. Name unknown in botanical literature.—G. prostratum, Hort. Fls. purple. Advertised as "good rockery subject."~(?).—G. sylvaticum. Linn. About 2 ft. high, with a soft-haired, upright, round st.: lvs. 5-7-parted, lobes oblong, deeply toothed: fls. purple or violet. June, July. The common wood geranium of Eu. A white-fld. form G. sylvaticum Album, Hort., is known. Gn. 72, p. 178.—G. tuberosum, Linn. Tuberous-rooted, 9-15 in. high, with st. at base naked: lvs. many-lobed, linear and serrate: pedicels 1-2-fld., fls. large, violet. May. S. Eu. |