Pelargonium graveolens L’Hér., Geraniologia , pl. 17 1792. (syn: Pelargonium intermedium Kunth;                             (=) Geranium terebinthinaceum Cav.; (=) Pelargonium terebinthinaceum (Cav.) Desf.);
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pe-lar-GO-nee-um
— from the Greek for stork – referring to the seed heads
Dave’s Botanary
grav-ee-OH-lens — heavy scented, unpleasant smellDave’s Botanary
.
commonly known as: rose geranium, rose-scented geranium, sweet-scented geranium
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Native to: s tropical & s Africa; cultivated elsewhere 
.
This specific species has great importance in the perfume industry. It is cultivated on a large scale and its foliage is distilled for its scent. P. graveolens cultivars have a wide variety of smells, including rose, citrus, mint, coconut and nutmeg, as well as various fruits. However, the most commercially important varieties are those with rose scents. (Ref. Wikipedia);
.
Partly woody plant up to 1 m tall with softly hairy fragrant leaves, deeply 5-7-lobed, segments again pinnatifid with ultimate lobes about 6 mm wide; flowers rose to white with purple spots, sessile in 5-10-flowered umbels; calyx spur 5-8 mm long, about as long as sepals; petals 11-14 mm long, upper two longest; 
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Balsaminaceae, Geraniaceae and Oxalidaceae Week: Geraniaceae :: Pelargonium graveolens :: San Francisco : 2 images. 3 posts by 3 authors. Pelargonium graveolens
Pictures taken from SFO Botanical garden. USA Jun 2011


Pelargonium graveolens L’Herit, W. Aiton, Hort. kew. 2:423. 1789
Syn: Pelargonium terebinthinaceum (Cav.) Desf; Gerannium terebinthinaceum Cav.

Common names: Rose geranium; rose-scent geranium
Partly woody plant up to 1 m tall with softly hairy fragrant leaves, deeply 5-7-lobed, segments again pinnatifid with ultimate lobes about 6 mm wide; flowers rose to white with purple spots, sessile in 5-10-flowered umbels; calyx spur 5-8 mm long, about as long as sepals; petals 11-14 mm long, upper two longest;
Photographed from SFO Zoo in California. 

yes commonly cultivated for rose scented essential oil widely used in fragrance industries


Beautiful pictures. The leaves resemble my unidentified Geranium with white flowers from Nairobi.


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Pelargonium graveolens AT MAR 2017/01 : 3 posts by 2 authors. Attachments (2)

Pelargonium graveolens
Scented geranium
Shimla/Hamirpur (H.P.)
March 2010
It is a strong scented small perennial shrub.



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please id this medicinal plant (mixed thread) : Attachments (1)

Recently got this plant & was told that it has some medicinal values, please id & also if possible tell me the marathi name.


I think Cucurbitaceae member.
May be Citrullus sp


Ya, Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) may be!!!


this is definitely not from the cucumber family, but surely a medicinal plant….. please do excuse me for the poor photograph.


Hmmmm…yeah, it has no tendrils….
Sorry I overlooked….
Geraniaceae….?


I have been thinking of Pelargonium all the time!! The stem and leaf base reminds me of that.


Indeed.  I have a plant called Zitronen Geranie Pelargonium graveolens. I don’t know if it is a medicinal plant. It has lemon scent and it keeps insects away. So I have them in every room. I shall take a foto of Zitronengeranie tomorrow and post it

Just once it had two flowers. Hope i shall find those fotos too tomorrow.


Can you please inform if it was wild or from some garden. Just to know if there are wild Geraniums in Pune.


I had picked these plants from a nursery in Pune & the nursery owner was not there to give me the proper names etc, his father only told me that these are good medicinal plants & is a mosquito repellant. But when i carried these plants to my land about 65 kms from Pune, my co
worker on the land told me that he has seen them in the forests….. when the rains give a respite i can confirm with you.


Yeah and my id of the Family helped too, but sorry abt cucurbitaceae !!!


Yes …, you’ve id’d the plant & thanx to all. The leaves does have a lemon scent


Yes … You seem to have got the right species. I knew only P. zonale (which has different leaves), but somehow overall appearance reminded me of Pelargonium. I am happy that my guess helped.


Sorry …, ur post was not on display unless I posted my
reply. But I am not sure, if Pelargoniums are found in wild in India.
Any members from south may be of help, otherwise species may be different. Geraniums/Pelargoniums do have very variables leaves and without flowers it becomes tricky to id them.
Hope this is the correct id.


This is the beauty of the Group. It can pick up from a scratch and deliver the goods. I had thought about Pelargonium but remained quite as Cucurbitaceae was dominant view, but came out with Pelargonium when Cucurbitaceae was rejected and … hinted at Geraniaceae.


Yes, i must say for a layman farmer like me to interact with all of you experts is really humbling…… thank you to all.


Being a farmer is a good thing, because you have more field knowledge that most of the botanists sitting in office. And your id, “dobighazameen”seems to be very touching to me too.
Just wanted to add, during one of my field work, one tribal girl found an orchid for me. I am attaching a pdf of it. Hope you will love to read the article of mine. This goes to other members too who may like to read it. The article is on page 2-3.
Do give ur comments.

Attachments (1) – 001 2006 PA ORCH HUNT WII NEWSLETTER.pdf – 1 MB

The story is very touching, … You seem to be a good writer too! I would have felt more happy if you had noted her name at least from her friends. A variety of such incidents occur during explorations, and they remain green in our minds forever. Keep writing such interesting incidents.

Really nice write up, … and a great adventure. Keep the good work on. The knowledge about our Orchid wealth is surely going to enlarge through your efforts and dedication.


The pdf of newsletters are available for free on our website:
www.wii.gov.in in the publication section: wii.gov.in


This discussion has surely made Zitronen Geranie or Pelargonium graveolens (do correct me & also do give me the local marathi name if possible) very very special on my land.
Surely will take a photograph whenever it flowers & i hope it “flowers” :-))



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here are some fotos of Zitronengeranie (german name. I don’t know engl.name. Sorry). Leaves and flowers taken in April 2008. I hope in this summer, it shall get some more Flowers.

Attachments (5)


I am not aware of German name as I have no idea regarding the language. But the only the thing i can assume is the scientific name, which is ….
Pelargonium crispum (Berg.) L’Her.
Engl.
gooseberry geranium, crisped-leaf geranium
, lemon geranium, lemon-scented geranium, peach geranium


Thank you …,  i am not aware of the exact scientific name of my plant as I have no idea of botany. But when i search for Zitronengeranie under which the plant is known here, i get Pelargonium graveolens. So i leave it to the experts to identify my plant as well as that of …
I hope you agree with me?

Perhaps this will resolve the identity of plant posted by …, and possibly also …

P. crispum: Leaves small, usually less than 2.5 cm long, margin toothed and incised but not divided, margin crisped; flowers 2-2.5 cm long, upper larger petals sometimes emarginate.
P. graveolens: Leaves large, usually longer than 5 cm, long petiolate, divided almost to the base into 5-7 lobes, lobes again divided into about 6 mm broad segments dentate along margin; flowers 1.5 cm long.
On that basis … plant is clearly Pelargonium graveolens, and so is that of … There is some mix up of names. P. crispum is lemon geranium (that must have led … to give this name) or Crisped-leaf geranium and P. graveolens the rose geranium or rose-scent geranium. But that in no way should affect the identification. Photograph of the plant is here with us.
Here are some links:

But then there is a lot of confusion and mix up there on the internet, the images having been mixed up. That must also be reason for mix up of the names. But my description is based on famous book “Manual of Cultivated Plants” by L. H. Bailey


Thanx to all once again. Also … can you tell me about the publisher of “The manual for Cultivated Plants, by L.H. Bailey and if anyone of you can tell me a about a good reference book/s for plants/ trees/ flowers for Western India.

regards to all & as you said on “friendship day “…. to all the unknown & virtual ones !!


The book, 1949 edition is published by Macmillan Co., New York. It is out of print. I bought a second hand copy while in USA. If you are planning to buy, go for Hortus Third published in 1969. An old copy may be available on the net at reasonable price.


HORTUS and EXOTICA are available at CROSSROADS Mumbai, I remember seeing the fresh copies there. Just in case there are many roadside shops too in Mumbai from where you can get these books at very unexpected rates!!! … may be of help.
The manual for Cultivated Plants I think I have seen at Bisen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh or Natraj Publications in Dehradun.


Thank you … for clearing the doubts.
I have really no idea about the different varieties and species etc. etc. I can differenciate between sunflower and oxalis, there ends my knowledge. I just enjoy looking at the flowers and the insects. So I am really glad that the exact identification is done by experts in this group. Thanks again to you.
…,  I really admire your enthusiasm, I thought you would be packing your suitcase, but you are IDing Flowers. Great!
Bon Voyage, Gute Reise, Have a nice journey.

This is why I love this group. There are people with little or no botanical knowledge, but their knowledge about plants is amazing. Your knowledge about plants, I suppose is second to none, and your enthusiasm unparalleled. That is the beauty of the nature. You can know it if you have desire to do so. I remember, when I was struggling to differentiate various species of Brassica, my mother showed me few days old young plants with barely three or four leaves and could tell me difference between what we call mustards and coles. I have learnt many things about plants from her, and imagine she never went to school. Here on our group also there are several non botanists, …, you, to name a few (others pl. excuse me for not naming them) who are both the engine and the oil for this group. We are lucky to be the part of this group. Perhaps my interest in plants (nature) would not have been renewed, had I not joined this group. I would have remained at armchair botanist.
      This group has also changed working style of we botanists (at least me). Earlier if we got a new plant, we would collect our books, get hold of microscope, needle, brush and blade, and sit for hours to identify the unknown plant, and may still be sometimes unsuccessful, and then send the plant or photograph to an expert or a mailing group (TAXACOM was my favourite then). Now I do the reverse. Whenever, I get a new plant, I immediately send the photograph to our group, and ninety per cent of the times or more I get identification (or important clues) within minutes. Only if I don’t get identification here, I sit with the plant and books/internet, or enlarge photograph on my computer and attempt its identification.
      The group has also changed my working philosophy. We were told by our elders/teachers that you should tell the identification only if you are 100 % sure. If we follow this policy, not 10 % of plants would get identified. We here have invented a new strategy (and I advocate it strongly), just throw a wild guess (don’t hesitate about it), it will initiate rigorous search by other members to reach the correct identity. And this I think is the trademark of this group. And this we do exchanging light hearted comments to keep the spirit on. There was a lot of knowledge and goodwill involved about the LATIN NAMKARAN CEREMONY OF … YESTERDAY.
Let the spirit continue, and as they say “IS GROUP KO KISSI KI NAZAR NA LAG JAI”

Very well said by Sir Ji and less to say from my side the same thing. … added the “NIMBU MIRCHI” and completed the ritual.


You are right …, I have nothing more to add, to what you have written.

one of my friend told us once that we will meet near a perticular Ficus tree. We all said there is no Ficus there, she started telling all the clues from which we could understand that she was telling about Cycus and not Ficus.
We laughted. She said kya thumhare nam yar Cycus ho ya Ficus. ZAD to Hai. Latter after a few days same friend said we will meet under rain tree at a specific spot, and we were surprised to know that she has learned few trees.
Just felt like narrating this and pulling leg of … further.
We all admire him that he is great in identifying plants(and he is no doubt or second thought for it).
But one fine day he send a mail of Chilly flowers and ask id. When id was told he writes how can it be ? these plants are growing like weeds in his backyard. then he was told to wait and watch.
Now he says lots of chillies do come to his weeds.
HaHaHaHaHahahahahahaha
Sorry … but could not resist to pull your leg

Sorry … Your attempt to pull his legs failed, as he will not be reading mails for next few days. But who knows, he is … and may start his interactions, once he reaches Canadian shores. I really love this boy for his intelligence, sincerity and boldness. He is really centre of attraction in this group.


Yes Sir. We will miss his letters for a few days.


Hope not makink my steady return,

I tell u a something onr of my friends more dumb, be was vsist a house and he made a location mark out it. the mark was nothing but an election portion but the elction was over he went there and could not find the house.



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Pelargonium For ID : Kenya : 16OCT16 : AK-21 : 2 posts by 2 authors. Attachments (2)
Cultivated plant seen in the garden of a lodge in the first week of July.
Pelargonium graveolens

efi page on Pelargonium graveolens                                         


 

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