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Before GTS, Geraniums were not one of my favorite plants. They are, I found very hardy to hot weather. And after reading more about their origin, the Geranium has kind of grown on me! Especially when I also found out there are Chocolate scented Geraniums. I’ll have to find one of these plants!
The Geranium as it is commonly known, is actually of the genus Pelargonium. Geranium is the correct botanical name of the separate genus that contains the related Cranesbills. Both genera are in the Family Geraniaceae. Which originally included all the species in one genus, Geranium, but they were later separated into two genera by Charles L’Héritier in 1789. The first species of Pelargonium known to be cultivated was Pelargonium triste, a native of South Africa.The cranesbills make up the genus Geranium of 422 species of annual, biennial, and perennial plants found throughout the temperate regions of the world and the mountains of the tropics, but mostly in the eastern part of the Mediterranean. One can make the distinction between the two by looking at the flowers : Geranium has symmetrical flowers, while Pelargonium has irregular or maculate petals. The name “cranesbill” derives from the appearance of the seed-heads, which have the same shape as the bill of a Crane. The genus name is derived from the Greek word geranos, meaning ‘crane’.