Pelargonium

“ A creeping ivy-leaved geranium, and a very pretty pelargonium, which is also a creeper, grow in these same far-off regions; the flower of the latter is of a beautiful rich maroon and cream-colour, its curiously jointed stem and tiny leaves are very succulent, salt to the taste, and strongly scented with the sweet geranium perfume. It is strange to notice how plants which in Europe are neither saline nor particularly succulent, when growing in the Karroo assume the prevailing character of its vegetation. ”

“ A similar alteration accompanies this form of peloria in other flowers (see Peloria) . A change in direction may result also from other circumstances than those just alluded to. Abortion or suppression of organs will induce such an alteration; thus in a flower of Pelargonium now before me three of the five carpels, from some cause or other, are abortive and much smaller than usual, and the style and the beak-like [Pg 209] torus are bent downwards towards the stunted carpels instead of being, as they usually are, straight. ”

“ L’Heritier’s genus Pelargonium, by those who follow his new arrangement. It is a hardy plant, and requires only a common greenhouse for its protection, where it will seed; which seems to be the readiest mode of propagating it, as it produces but very few branches; thriving best in rich earth. [Pg 114]
PLATE 28
[Pg 117] [Pg 116] [Pg 115]
PLATE XXIX.
IXIA SPICATA. Var. viridi nigra.
Sea-green spiked Ixia. CLASS III. ORDER I. TRIANDRIA MONOGYNIA. Three Chives. One Pointal.
ESSENTIAL GENERIC CHARACTER.
Corolla 6 petala, patens, æqualis. ”

“ Hibberd's address, the Pelargonium's native home is on arid plains where there is much sand, much sunshine and little rain, so that they are chiefly dependent on heavy dews for moisture. To plant them in heavy soil, give them a sheltered situation and liberal and frequent watering, would be a mode of treatment directly the reverse of what they require. In the cultivation of all plants we should as far as possible adapt them to their native conditions. ”

“ Erodium contains 50 species (three are British) , most of which are confined to the Mediterranean region and west Asia, though others occur in America, in South Africa and West Australia. Pelargonium, with 175 species, has its centre in South Africa; the well-known garden and greenhouse “geraniums” are species of Pelargonium (see Geranium) .
GERANIUM, the name of a genus of plants, which is taken by botanists as the type of the natural order Geraniaceae. The name, as a scientific appellation, has a much more restricted application than when taken in its popular sense. ”

“ There are almost innumerable species, hybrids, and varieties of Pelargoniums grown in our green-houses, so mixed up together by hybridizing, that it is very difficult even to class them. One of the hardiest kinds, which has numerous descendants, is the Horse-shoe Geranium, Pelargonium zonale; and another, P. inquinans, is the common scarlet. The rose-scented Geranium, P. graveolens, and oak-leaved, P. quercifolium, with their numerous descendants, the flowers of which are all crimson, striped with brown so very dark that it looks almost black, are also tolerably hardy. ”

“ In fact it may be said that, from a popular point of view, the pelargoniums of the botanist are still better known as geraniums than are the geraniums themselves, but the term “zonal Pelargonium” is gradually making its way amongst the masses.
The species of Geranium consist mostly of herbs, of annual or perennial duration, dispersed throughout the temperate regions of the world. They number about 160, and bear a considerable family resemblance. ”

“ I have seen a variety of the holly, with its leaves having a central yellow patch, which had everywhere partially reverted to the ordinary foliage, so that on the same small branch there were many twigs of both kinds. In the pelargonium, and in some other plants, variegation is generally accompanied by some degree of dwarfing, as is well exemplified in the “Dandy” pelargonium. ”

“ From an imported plant, in the Hibbertian collection, our drawing was made this year.
A continual harping on the same subject, may perhaps appear rather tiresome; but, as almost every real new species of Geranium, which falls under our observation, seems to add a fresh proof of the futility of the new arrangement, we cannot forbear noticing it. This species, for instance, has every other essential generic character of Monsieur L’Heritier’s Pelargonium, but unfortunately the most essential. ”

“ Other varieties of pelargonium are sterile and others fertile without our being able to assign any cause. Very slight changes in the position of a plant, whether planted on a bank or at its base, sometimes make all the difference in its producing seed. Temperature apparently has a much more powerful influence on the fertility of plants than on that of animals. ”

“ All kinds of Pelargonium may be raised from seed with the certainty of giving satisfaction if the work be well done. An amateur, who contributed to the production of symmetrical flowers in the Zonal section, found that under ordinary treatment Zonals began to bloom in one hundred days from the date of sowing the seed, and some of those that flowered earliest proved to be the finest. The cultivator will soon discover that one rule is important, and that is to sow seed saved from really good strains. ”

“ The practical experiments of horticulturists, though not made with scientific precision, deserve some notice. It is notorious in how complicated a manner the species of Pelargonium, Fuchsia, Calceolaria, Petunia, Rhododendron, &c., have been crossed, yet many of these hybrids seed freely. For instance, Herbert asserts that a hybrid from Calceolaria integrifolia and plantaginea, species most widely dissimilar in general habit, "reproduced itself as perfectly as if it had been a natural species from the mountains of Chile." ”

“ We are now in a condition to comprehend the cause of some phenomena. A geranium (Pelargonium) stem, placed at a window, curves towards the light: this takes place, because the portion of stem nearest the window elaborates most sap: consequently, in this portion most vegetable fibre is formed. The portion away from the light, on the contrary, has most ascending sap, which forms fleshy tissue, and lengthens the stem; the half of the stem remote from the light is therefore longer, that next the window is shorter ”

“ I will give a few instances, all relating to the Pelargonium, and taken chiefly from Mr. Beck, [169] a famous cultivator of this plant: some varieties require more water than others; some are "very impatient of the knife if too greedily used in making cuttings;" some, when potted, scarcely "show a root at the outside of the ball of the earth;" one variety requires a certain amount of confinement in the pot to make it throw up a flower-stem; some varieties bloom well at the commencement of the season, others at the close ”

“ As to pelargoniums in general, it must be observed that their popularity is due alike to their brilliant and various colours both of leaf and flower, and their wonderful adaptation to the circumstances which influence the selection and cultivation of exotic plants in this country. Our summer sunshine is sufficiently fierce for them; and although our winters are always too wet and usually too cold, the most commonplace means of protection suffice for their preservation. ”

“ Pelargonium.—The shrubby kinds will grow well in any rich soil; loam and decayed leaves form a good compost for them. They require good drainage and plenty of air and light while in a vigorous state. Cuttings root readily in either soil or sand, especially if placed under glass. Most of the hard-wooded varieties are more easily increased by cuttings from the roots. The tuberous-rooted ones should be kept quite dry while dormant, and may be increased by small off-sets from the roots. ”

“ All are in the habit of folding their leaves fan-like in the bud. When they grow large these folds straighten out. It is a good thing to be folded up fan-like in the bud; the leaf then takes up less room, and is kept snug and safe until it grows strong enough to care for itself. The pelargonium indulges in large stipules. These are green, leaf-like bodies growing on the leaf stalk where it is attached to the stem of the plant. They fold over the young leaf and protect it ”

“ In Erodium the members of the outer whorl are reduced to scale-like structures (staminodes) , and in Pelargonium from two to seven only are fertile. There is no satisfactory explanation of this break in the regular alternation of successive whorls; the outer whorl of stamens arises in course of development before the inner, so that there is no question of subsequent displacement. ”

“ When these have struck, they are potted in a compost of vegetable mould and sand, and continue in this soil till February or March, [Pg 359] when they are repotted in rich soil for flowering. Some gardeners throw away the old plants as soon as they have made the cuttings; but others take the old plants out of their pots, and shaking the earth from them, prune the roots, and repot the plants in smaller pots. Pelargoniums require a great deal of air; and when about to flower they should have a great deal of water, but at other seasons very little. They are killed with the slightest frost ”

“ As soon as the plants are large enough pot them in thumbs, next in 60’s and finally in 48’s. In the last-named size they should be allowed to flower, as it is waste of labour to grow specimens of plants that may prove to be worthless. As the flowers open destroy those that are manifestly bad and take cuttings of all that promise to be worthy of a second trial. By good management seedling pelargoniums will begin to flower in 100 days from the date the seed was sown. ”

“ J. Denny, a great raiser of new varieties of pelargoniums, after stating that this species is proterandrous, adds ‘The Florist and Pomologist’ January 1872 page 11, “there are some varieties, especially those with petals of a pink colour, or which possess a weakly constitution, where the pistil expands as soon as or even before the pollen-bag bursts, and in which also the pistil is frequently short, so when it expands it is smothered as it were by the bursting anthers; these varieties are great seeders, each pip being fertilised by its own pollen. ”

“ The large flowered show varieties and the large-flowered single Zonals take the lead, and they are pleasantly followed by a crowd of ivy-leaved, double-flowered and variegated sorts that are useful and beautiful. The Pelargonium Society has set up a severe standard of judging, and a variety must be distinct and good to pass through the sieve. Moreover the raising of varieties has been to a great extent reduced to scientific principles, and we obtain as a result new characters suggestive of the great extent of the field that still lies open to the adventurous spirit in cross-breeding. ”

“ No one in recent years has contributed more directly toward the scientific treatment of the subject than our own painstaking Treasurer, Dr. Denny, of whose labors I propose to present a hasty sketch.
"Dr. Denny commenced the raising of Pelargoniums in the year 1866, having in view to ascertain the influence of parentage, and thus to establish a rule for the selection of varieties for seed-bearing [64] purposes. In raising varieties with variegated leaves, as also with distinct and handsome flowers, he found the pollen parent exercised the greatest influence on the offspring. ”

“ Geraniums, or pelargoniums, as they are now more properly called, being half-shrubby plants, require to be raised by cuttings. These are generally taken off the points of the shoots in autumn; and, a good many being put into one pot, they are plunged into the hotbed till they have struck root, and then gradually hardened and placed on the back shelf of a greenhouse, or in a cold frame, till the spring, when they are removed to separate pots till they are wanted for planting out. ”

“ Cuttings of partially ripened wood of all pelargoniums root very easily, grow to blooming size in a short time, and, either planted out or grown in a pot, make fine decorations. The common or fish geraniums are much more satisfactory when not more than a year old. Take cuttings from the old plants at least once a year. In four or five months the young plants begin to bloom. Plants may be taken up from the garden and potted, but they rarely give as much satisfaction as young, vigorous subjects; new plants should be grown every year. Repot frequently until they are in 4-to 5-inch pots ”

“ A large number however of those with which we are familiar are not distinct species, but mere varieties. Geraniums were first introduced into this country at the end of the seventeenth century. Pelargoniums differ from geraniums principally in the irregularity of their flowers, their shrubby stems and tubular nectaries. ”

“ I find that very few people, even old flower lovers, have any conception of the improvement and variety which the last few years have brought, especially in the wonderful new creations coming from the hands of the French hybridizers. The latest news is that a German plant-breeder has produced the first of a new race of Pelargoniums (Pansy or Lady Washington geraniums) that continues to bloom as long as any of our ordinary bedding sorts. ”

“ P. quercifolium is the oak-leaf geranium. The ivy-leaf geranium, derived from P. peltatum, has given rise to an important class of both double- and single-flowered forms adapted especially for pot culture, hanging baskets, window boxes and the greenhouse. Of late years the ivy-leaf “geraniums” have been crossed with the “zonals,” and a new race is being gradually evolved from these two distinct groups.
The best soil for pelargoniums is a mellow fibrous loam with good well-rotted stable manure or leaf-mould in about the proportion of one-fifth ”