are formed, which is always by the metamorphosis of the stamens, or of the stamens and pistil, into petals. The pistil of the Pelargonium appears, when young, to consist of a five-celled ovary, with a long slender style, the tip of which is divided into five slender curved stigmas. The cells of the ovary are, however, five one-seeded carpels, each having a separate style; and though both the carpels and styles appear firmly grown together when young, yet, in fact, they only adhere to an elongation of the receptacle (see _a_ in _fig._ 134), which is here called the central axis, and from which, when ripe, they part with elasticity, and curl up, as shown at _b_; the styles, or awns, as they are sometimes called, being hairy inside. [Illustration: FIG. 134.—SEED-VESSEL OF A PELARGONIUM.] The shape of the unripe seed-vessel, with its persistent calyx, is shown at _c_, and a detached seed at _d_. No plant hybridises more freely than the Pelargonium; and thus, the number of new kinds raised every year defies all description, and they have been so mixed and intermixed with each other, that it is not easy to say to what species the most splendid hybrids are allied. A few species, however, remain nearly unchanged, and the best known of these are _P. zonale_, the Horseshoe Geranium; _P. inquinans_, the common scarlet, the juice of the leaves of which is said to stain the fingers brown; _P. graveolens_, and _P. capitatum_, the rose-scented Geraniums, and _P. tricolor_. All the Pelargoniums have their flowers in heads or umbels; and the calyx in all of them remains on till the seeds are ripe. The seed-vessel, or fruit, as it is called by botanists, is long and pointed, forming some resemblance to the head of a stork; the ovary shrouded in the persistent calyx, representing the head of the bird, and the long styles the beak. The leaves vary in shape in the different kinds: sometimes they are roundish, as in the Horseshoe Geranium, and marked with a dark band or zone, whence the specific name _zonale_; and sometimes they are deeply cut, as in the rose-scented kinds: some are shrubby, and some herbaceous; and the stems of some species are warted, and the roots of others tuberous.