1. GERANIUM. Linn, (in part); L H e r .; Gcertn.fr. t. 79.
Sepals equal. Petals 5, equal. Stamens 10, all fertile; alternate ones
larger, with a nectariferous gland at their base. Persistent styles at length
circinately revolute, glabrous within.—Herbaceous or rarely suffrutescent.
Peduncles 1-2-flowered (2- rarely 3-flowered in the North American species).
* Perennial. (Pubescence of the stem and petioles retrorse in Ike Norik American
species.)
1. G. maculatum (Linn.) : stem erect, (often nearly glabrous below) dichotomous,
somewhat angled, pubescent; leaves 3—5-parted ; the segments
acute, cuneiform below, incisely serrate above; the radical leaves on long
petioles; uppermost opposite; petals entire; filaments scarcely ciliate at the
base. Hook.—Michx. ! Jl. 2. p. 157; Ell. sk. 2. p. 157; Bigel. med. hot. t. 8 ;
DC. prodr. 1. p. 642; Hook.Jl. Bor.-Am. 1. p. 115 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. ed.
2. p. 392.
In open woods, &c. Canada! to Florida; west to the Mississippi. April—
June.—Stem 1-2 feet high. Leaves hirsutely pubescent; the lobes incisely
toothed or cleft. Pedicels unequal. Sepals oblong or oval-lanceolate, mucro-
nate-awned, sparsely clothed with long white hairs: pubescence not glandular.
Petals large, purple (sometimes almost white), cuneiform-obovate,
densely villous with short hairs at the base. Seeds minutely reticulated.—
Crow-foot. Spoiled Cranes-bill.
■ 2. G. albiflorum (Hook.) : stem erect, dichotomous, somewhat angled,
glabrous below; glandular-pilose above; leaves deeply 5-parted; segments
ovate, acuminate, incisely subpinnatifid, rather hairy; radical ones on long
petioles; the uppermost opposite, on short petioles, 3-parted, rather acuminate;
sepals glandular-pilose ; petals (enitire, white) as well as filaments hirsute at
the base. Hook. 1. c. p. 116, t. 40, f in bot. mag. t. 3124.
P.? incisum: leaves almost 5-divided; segments narrower; flowers purple.—
G.incisum, Nutt.! mss.
Vallies of the Rocky Mountains, Drummond !—Nearly allied to G. maculatum
and G. pratense. Hook.-^r 0. Vallies of the Rocky Mountains and
Oregon, Auttall!—A portion only of the hairs on the peduncles, sepals, &c.
is glandular; and the pubescence is much denser and shorter than in G.
maculatum. TVe have the same plant from Altaic Siberia, sent by Prof.
Fischer. Thevar. 0.7 which we doubt not is wholly distinct from G. maculatum,
may perhaps prove to be distinct from G. albiflorum. The petals have
a lateral tuft of hairs at the base.
3. G. erianthum (DC.) : stem erect, angled, (terete, DC.) sparingly dichotomous,
minutely pubescent or nearly glabrous below; leaves deeply 5- 7-
lobed; lobes 3-cleft; segments laciniate-incised; radical ones on long petioles
; the uppermost subsessile; peduncles short and crowded; sepals and
base of the petals and stamens densely villous.—DC. prodr. 1. p. 641;
Bong.! veg. Sitcha, l. c.p. 129; Hook. % Am. inbot. Beechey,p. 113. G.
eriostemon Fisch.in DC. 1. c.7 ex Hook. & Am. G. maculatum 0. Hook.
fl.l .c .7
N. W. Coast & Kamtschatka, De Cand. Hook. Am. Sitcha, Bon-
gar d !—Flowers purple (“ perhaps blue,” Bongard), the size of G. maculatum.
Sepals narrower than in the 2 preceding species, very hirsute externally
with long white hairs; the same kind of pubescence also on the base
of the filaments.—These 3 species, it would seem from our specimens, may
be further distinguished by the villosity of the petals ; which in G. maculatum
forms a small and very dense white tuft on the claw inside; in G. albi-
E rodium. GERANIACE2E. 207
florum the hairs are longer and more scattered, occupying the lower half of
the upper surface; in G. erianthum the dense villosity is situated on the
edges of the petals near the base.
* * Animal.
4. G. Carolinianum (Linn.): stem diffusely branched; leaves deeply
5-lobed or parted; segments incisely lobed or toothed; peduncles mostly
short and rather crowded at the summit of the branches; petals emarginate,
about the length of the aristate-mucronate sepals; carpels hairy; seeds oval,
minutely reticulated.— Walt. Car. p. 175; “ Cav. diss. t. 84 124” ;
Michx. fl. 2. p. 28; Ell. sk. 2. p. 157; Hook. 1. c .; Darlingt. 1. c. G.
lanuginosum, Jacq. hort. Schoenb. 2. t. 140.
In barren places from Canada! (lat. 52°,; Hook.) to Florida! Louisiana!
west to the Rocky Mountains in lat. 52°, and California, Hook. <$• Am. in bot.
Beechey. Oregon, Nuttall! March-June.—Root somewhat fusiform. Stem
4-12 inches high, pubescent below, villous above; hairs retrorse or sometimes
spreading. Sepals hairy. Petals rather obcordate, rose-color. Carpels
sometimes 2-seeded, ex Ell.—Variable in the lobes of the leaves, which
are usually short and obtuse. The seeds are not perfectly smooth, as is said
by De Candolle, but minutely reticulated, though by no means so conspicuously
as in G. dissectum, to which it is closely allied. This last species is
considered as a native of North America by Pursh, probably on insufficient
grounds: we have seen no native specimens.
5. G. pusillum (Linn.) : stem procumbent, minutely pubescent; leaves
reniform, the lowest suborbicular, deeply 5-7Alobed; lobes 3-cleft (of the
upper leaves nearly entire); petals emarginate, about the length of the hairy
somewhat acuminate sepals ; carpels minutely pubescent; seeds smooth.—
Torr. ! compend.p. 254; DC. prodr. 1. p. 643. G. malvaefolium, Lam. fl.
Fran. 3. p. 18.
Road-sides, Long Island ! and Western part of the State of New-York!
Introduced. May-July.— Stem extensively spreading. Flowers small, pale
purple. Alternate stamens usually sterile.
6. G. Robertianum (Linn.): diffuse, hairy; leaves 3-5-parted to the
base; segments pinnatifid; lobes mostly incised or toothed; petals entire
(purple), twice the length of the mucronate-awned sepals; carpels reticulate-
rugose, glabrous ; seeds smooth — Willd. sp. 3. p. 714; Pursh. fl. 2. v. 449 ;
DC. prodr. 1. p. 644. .
Wet rocks,Canada! toVirginia! west to the Mississippi. June-Oct.—Calyx
1-3-ribbed. Petals spatulate.—Pursh’s very incorrect remark that the American
plant has not the same heavy and disagreeable odor as the European
has induced De Candolle to consider our plant as a distinct variety.
1 Doubtful species.
7. G. ccespitosum (James): suberect, sparingly branched above; radical
leaves reniform, deeply 5-7-cleft; flower a little larger than that of G. Robertianum,
but similarly colored. James, in Long's exped. 2. p. 3.
On sandstone ledges at the base of the Rocky Mountains, Dr. James.
2. ERODIUM. F il e r .; Willd. sp. 3. p. 625.
Sepals equal, regular. Petals 5, mostly equal. Stamens 10; the 5 exterior
(opposite the petals) shorter and sterile ; the perfect ones with a nectariferous
gland at their base. Persistent styles bearded within, at length spirally