Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Purple Pelargoniums

Pelargoniums are usually incorrectly called geraniums, and it is the South African wild pelargoniums that are the parents of all the "geraniums" you see spilling out of window boxes all over the world. This misty, breezy morning we climbed Devil's Peak and these purple perlargoniums (Pelargonium cucullatum) were in full flower all along the path.The fruit of the pelargonium resembles a stork's bill which is where the name comes from (pelargos is Greek for stork) and you can see some of the fruits pointing straight up on the left of the photo above. This photo, also taken this morning on Devil's Peak, is of Pelargonium myrrhifolium which is also common on Table Mountain. There are at least twenty common species of Pelargoniun on Table Mountain.
For more Ps but no Qs yet, go to ABC Wednesday.

6 comments:

  1. Table Mountain is a treasure chest of little plants and flowers.

    ReplyDelete
  2. What gorgeous flowers! And your photos are wonderful! Terrific post for the P Day! Hope your week is going well!

    Sylvia
    ABC Team

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love pelargoniums, especially the scented-leaf varieties.Beautiful photos - how lovely to have them growing wild and in such profusion.

    ReplyDelete
  4. very informative, and PRETTY PLANTS.

    ROG, ABC Wednesday team

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh. That's so good to know. I love geraniums but didn't know much about them.

    ReplyDelete
  6. fascinating flowers! It looks misty behind the top one.

    ReplyDelete