wild, and is common under walls and stones along roadsides, Cleugli’s
Plain, &c. M. Alt. 2-4.—Hab. Italy.
Pelargonium, L’Hérit.
121. *P. cotyledonis, L’Hérit. ; Mrodium sempervivum, Eoxb.—-
This plant, to which the St. Helenians have given the name of “ Old
Father Live for Ever,” from its power of retaining vitality for
months without either soil or water, is the most curious of all the
indigenous plants. I t is now very rare, but still to be found at
alts. ‘1 to 2, clinging to the barren, exposed, rocky cliffs overhanging
the sea-coast on the windward side of the Island, where there is least
soil and moisture. The colour of its stem is a chocolate-brown, considerably
mottled by the grey lichens growing upon it, and so
nearly resembles the dark basaltic cliffs and soil upon which it is
found, that at the time when the plant is leafless it is most difficult
to distinguish it from the rock upon which it grows. I t seems to
seek out the most inaccessible places, where there is no other vegetation—
indeed, where nothing else would . grow ; and not without
some risk are the plants of it to be obtained. I t throws out its
leaves and white blossoms about May or June, after the summer
rains ; these soon die away again, leaving the plant for the most part
of the year very much like a knotted mass of old fir-tree roots. I t is
now chiefly found on Sandy Bay Barn and Man and: Horse Cliffs;
and the only places inland where it occurs, and that very rarely, are
Cole’s Bock, in Sandy Bay, and the eastern side of High Knoll,
alt. 3-75. P l a t e 30. Also L’Héritier Geraniaceæ, t. 27.
122. P. denticulatum, Jacq.—Nutmeg Geranium; grows wild
about the high land shrubberies, especially in the neighbourhood
of St. Paul’s churchyard, where it is very common.—Hab. Cape of
Good Hope.
123. P . graveolens, Ait.—Geranium with the odour of a Bose,
said by Boxburgh to grow in the Island.—Hab. Cape of Good
Hope.
124. P . hybridum, Ait.—Bastard Scarlet Geranium; grows
wild, associated with the larger variety.—Hab. Cape of Good
Hope.
125. P. glutinosum, Ait.—Oak-leaf Geranium ; grows wild
and abundantly about the woodside hedges and St. Paul’s