[Robertium Picard, Mem. Soc. Agric. Boulogne II. 1: 99. 1837. Not Robcrtia Scop. 1777.]

♦

Herbs with 3-divided leaves, the divisions 1-2-pinnatifid, and axillary 2-flowered peduncles. Flowers regular. Sepals 5, awn-tipped. Petals 5. glabrous, each with a slender claw and a broad blade. Stamens 10; filaments glabrous. Ovary 5-lobed, 5-celled, the style-column beaked. Ovules 2 in each cavity. Capsule separating into 5 carpels, the bodies deciduous from the styles at maturity, each bearing 2 fibrous appendages near the top. [Diminutive of Robertium.]

Two known species of north temperate regions, the following typical.

1. Robertiella Robertiàna (L.) Hanks. Herb Robert. Red Robin

Fig. 2651

Geranium Robertianum L. Sp. Pl. 681. 1753. Robertiella Robertiana Hanks; Hanks & Small, N. A. Fl. 25: 3. 1907.

Annual or biennial, glandular-villous, weak, extensively branching, erect or decumbent, 6'-18' high, heavy-scented. Leaves thin, ovate-orbicular in outline, the divisions cleft, finely lobed or toothed, the teeth oblong, mucronate; peduncles slender, 2-flowered, 1-3' long; pedicels divaricate, ¥ long; sepals acuminate and awn-pointed; flowers red-purple, about 6" broad; petals 4"-5" long, narrow-clawed; beak of the fruit about 1' long, awn-pointed, nearly glabrous; carpels nearly glabrous, wrinkled.

In rocky woods, rarely in sandy places, Nova Scotia to Manitoba, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Missouri. Occurs also in Europe, Asia and northern Africa. Odor disagreeable. Fox, mountain or wild geranium. Red robin. Red-shanks. Dragons'-blood. Jenny-wren. Wren's-flower. Red bird's-eye. May-Oct.