pelargonium

[pel-ahr-goh-nee-uhm, -er-]

noun

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

pelargonium

/ 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of pelargonium¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of pelargonium¹

C19: via New Latin from Greek pelargos stork, on the model of _geranium ; from the likeness of the seed vessels to a stork's bill

Example Sentences

This same flashy color pattern decorates the fancy-leaved Pelargonium `Miss Burdett-Coutts’, so colorful it is best grown alone in a pot, its red flowers nipped off.

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This variety, Pelargonium citronella, has a citrus scent, but there are many others with aromas including chocolate and mint.

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

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It’s a hot July day and we’re standing in a large and slightly clammy greenhouse that contains more than 120 pelargonium species, a collection that belongs to Carole Bamford, the founder of the pioneering British brand Daylesford Organic.

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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.

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