pelargonium

American  

[pel-ahr-goh-nee-uhm, -er-] / ˌpɛl ɑrˈgoʊ ni əm, -ər- /

noun

1. any plant of the genus Pelargonium, the cultivated species of which are usually called geranium.

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pelargonium British  

/ ˌpɛləˈɡəʊnɪəm /

noun

1. any plant of the chiefly southern African geraniaceous genus Pelargonium, having circular or lobed leaves and red, pink, or white aromatic flowers: includes many cultivated geraniums

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Etymology

Origin of pelargonium

1810–20; < New Latin < Greek pelargó ( s ) stork + ( gerá ) nion geranium

Example Sentences

That original pelargonium later died but, thanks to Gamble’s keen propagating, he was able to return the favor and provide his friend with a cutting from its offspring.

From New York Times • Jul. 28, 2021

Unsurprisingly, then, the scent many of us know as geranium — mossy, deeply green and medicinal — is, in fact, extracted from the leaves of pelargonium graveolens.

From New York Times • Jul. 28, 2021

The plant commonly known as a geranium, he explains, is actually a pelargonium, a different genus entirely.

From New York Times • Jul. 28, 2021

“Just this year alone, we have had one little pelargonium stolen and a haemanthus South African bulb dug out from its pot, which was the last one we had in the collection,” says Snowball.

From The Guardian • Jan. 15, 2020

Those who saw the common kitchen vegetable sumptuously lodged under glass, in the company of the pelargonium and the Chinese primrose, were astonished at my curious fancy.

From The Wonders of Instinct Chapters in the Psychology of Insects by Teixeira de Mattos, Alexander