1. Sepals 4, valvate in bud. Petals 8, white. Stamens 8, opposite the petals, free. Ovary 8-celled, with 1 ascending ovule in each cell. Tails
(awns) of the carpels not recurved at maturity. Shrubs. Flowers solitary, with 4 bracteoles.—Species 1. Island of Socotra. [Tribe
DIRACHMEAE.] Dirachma Schweinf.
Sepals 5, imbricate in bud. Petals 2-5. Stamens 10 or 15, some frequently
sterile. Ovary 5-celled, with 2 ovules in each cell. Tails (awns) of the carpels curved or twisted backwards at maturity. [Tribe GERANIEAE.] 2
2. Flowers irregular, with a spur-like appendage along the pedicel and without glands at the base of the stamens. Fertile stamens 5-7, rarely 2-4.—Species
250. Southern and tropical Africa; two species also naturalized in North Africa. Many of them are used as ornamental plants, some have edible roots or yield perfumes or medicaments. Pelargonium L’Hér.
Flowers regular or almost so, without a spur-like appendage, with glands at the base of the stamens. Fertile stamens 5, 10, or 15. 3
3. Stamens 10, all or 5 of them fertile. 4
Stamens 15, all fertile. 5
4. Tails of the carpels spirally twisted, hairy. Fertile stamens 5. Petals entire. Flowers usually in umbels.—Species 40. North Africa to
Abyssinia and South Africa. Some are used medicinally; hygrometres are made from the carpel-tails. “Storks-bill.” Erodium L’Hér.
Tails of the carpels arched, generally glabrous. Fertile stamens usually 10.
Petals mostly notched. Flowers usually solitary or in pairs.—Species
30. North and South Africa and mountains of the tropics. Some species are used as ornamental plants or yield tanning and dyeing materials or medicaments. “Cranes-bill.” Geranium L.
5. Filaments united in 5 bundles. Stem herbaceous.—Species 25. Some are used medicinally. (Plate 68.) Monsonia L.
Filaments free almost to the base. Stem fleshy, armed with spines formed from the persistent leafstalks.—Species 7. South Africa, southern
Central Africa, and Madagascar. Some species yield an aromatic resin. (Under Monsonia L.) Sarcocaulon DC.
[FAMILY 108.] OXALIDACEAE
Leaves alternate. Flowers regular, hermaphrodite. Sepals 5. Petals 5, free or united at the base, with contorted aestivation. Stamens 10, rarely 5 of them sterile. Filaments united at the base. Anthers opening inwards. Glands at the base of the stamens present. Ovary superior, 5-celled. Ovules axile. Styles 5, free. Fruit a capsule or a berry. Seeds with a fleshy albumen and a straight embryo.—Genera 3, species 160. (Under GERANIACEAE.) (Plate 69.)
1. Fruit a berry. Trees. Leaves unequally pinnate, sensitive. Flowers in cymes.—Species 2. Cultivated in the Mascarene Islands. They yield timber, medicaments, and edible fruits, which are also used for preparing a scouring water. Averrhoa L.
Fruit a capsule. All stamens fertile. Herbs or undershrubs, rarely shrubs. 2
OXALIDACEAE.
FLOW. PL. AFR.
Pl. 69.
J. Fleischmann del.
Biophytum sensitivum (L.) DC.