Geranium macrorrhizum, L. Geranium dalmaticum, (G. Beck) Rech. fil. Geranium cinereum, Cav. Geranium cinereum subsp. subcaulescens, (L'Her. ex DC.) Hayek

1. G. macrorrhizum L. View in CoL View at ENA , Sp. Pl. 680 (1753).

Perennial, with stout, horizontal rhizome. Stem (6-)20-50cm, erect, with 0-1 pairs of cauline leaves as well as the bracts. Leaves 4-10 cm wide, fragrant, divided for 75-80% of the radius into 5-7 obovate, pinnatifid lobes; segments 3-4 on each side, obtuse but conspicuously mucronate. Inflorescence with 2-3 peduncles subtended by 2 bracts, which are subsessile and 3- to 5-lobed but otherwise like the basal leaves; lateral peduncles each with 4-9 nodding flowers in a dense corymb or umbel. Sepals erect, reddish; petals c. 15 mm, with claw at least half as long as the obovate, entire, patent or deflexed, dull purplish-red limb. Stamens 18-22 mm; filaments curved. Style up to 40 mm, of which the terminal half is not thickened and drops off before the fruit ripens. Mericarps glabrous, without ridges. 2/7 = 46. Shady places, usually among mountains; calcicole. • Balkan peninsula, S. & E. Carpathians, S. Alps, Appennini ; cultivated elsewhere for ornament and often naturalized. Al Au Bu Ga G r It Ju Rm *Rs (W) [Be Br Ge Rs (K)]. Dwarf mountain plants from Greece are often nearly glabrous and with very small, scarious bracts; they approach closely to 2 but differ in the shape of the leaf-lobes.

2. G. dalmaticum (G. Beck) Rech. fil. View in CoL , Magyar Bot. Lapok 33: 28 (1934)

( G. macrorrhizum subsp. microrhizon Freyn ).

Like 1 but smaller and more delicate; glabrous except for pedicels and sepals; lamina 2-5-4 cm wide, divided nearly to the base into 5 cuneate lobes with straight, entire sides and 3 triangular teeth at the apex; cauline leaves always absent; bracts always very small and scarious; petals c. 13 mm; stamens 14-18 mm. Rocky places. • S.W. Jugoslavia and N. Albania. Al Ju.

3. G. cinereum Cav. View in CoL , Monad. Class. Diss. Dec. 204 (1787).

Perennial, with very stout, vertical rhizome. Leaves all basal, 2-3 cm wide, pubescent on both sides, sometimes greyish-serice­ ous beneath, divided for 80 % of the radius (but often apparently less from overlapping of the lobes) into 5-7 obovate-cuneate or obdeltate, usually almost contiguous lobes, each with 3 obtuse or mucronate segments or teeth at apex. Peduncles 5-10 cm, 2-flowered; bracts usually small, scarious. Sepals aristate; petals c. 15 mm, obovate, emarginate, with very short claw. Mericarps sericeous, with 1-3 ridges below the style. Rocky or grassy places in mountains. S. & W. part of Balkan peninsula; C. & S. Italy; Pyrenees. Al Ga Gr Hs It Ju.

Two rather ill-defined subspecies may be recognized:

(a) Subsp. cinereum :

Leaf-segments c. 2 mm; sepals pubescent but with long hairs very few or only on margin; petals pale lilac with darker veins. • Pyrenees.

(b) Subsp. subcaulescens (L’Hér. ex DC.) Hayek View in CoL , Prodr. FI. Penins. Balcan. 1: 572 (1925)

( G. subcaulescens L’Hér. ):

Leafsegments up to 5 mm; usually at least some of the sepals with plentiful long, white hairs; petals usually deep reddish-purple, but sometimes pale. S. & W. part o f Balkan peninsula; C. & S. Italy. Plants which resemble 3 in many features but differ in others have been described from calcareous mountains in several regions of Spain. They occur in disjunct populations, and it is difficult to give them satisfactory taxonomic treatment; they should probably be regarded as variants or subspecies of 3. G. subargenteum Lange in Willk. & Lange, Prodr. FI. Hisp. 3: 525 (1878), from the Cordillera Cantâbrica, has the leaves very densely appressed-pubescent (grey-green above, silvery beneath); sepals without long hairs; and petals deep purplish-pink. G. dolomiticum Rothm. , Bol. Soc. Esp. Hist. Nat. 34: 151 (1934), from N.W. Spain (S. of Ponferrada), is robust, with petioles up to 15 cm; leaves pale green beneath; stem sometimes branched and with cauline leaves near the base; sepals acute to acuminate, with long marginal hairs; and petals apparently fairly deep purple. G. cazorlense Heywood , Bull. Brit. Mus. (Bot.) 1: 112 (1954), from S.E. Spain (Sierra de Cazorla), is small and densely caespitose, with closely contiguous leaf-lobes bearing short, rounded segments; sepals small, acute or shortly mucronate; and petals 12 mm, white with violet veins.

4. G. humbertii Beauverd View in CoL , Bull. Soc. Bot. Genève ser. 2, 31: 447 (1940).

Like 3, but stem said to be branched, and perhaps with some cauline leaves near the base; petals c. 10 mm, with well-developed claw c. 5 mm long, white with pink veins. Fruit unknown. Mountain rocks. • N. Greece (Kaimakchalari). Gr.

Only once collected and rather inadequately described, this plant needs further investigation. It may be a variety of 3, but the clawed petals appear to be very distinctive .