Pelargoniums
Botanical: Pelargonium antidysentericum, and other Species
Family: N.O. Geraniaceae
---Synonym---T'Namie.
---Part Used---Root.
---Habitat---Cape of Good Hope.
---Description---This is a very extensive genus, and the greater number are natives of the Cape of Good Hope, most species possess astringent properties, and have been found valuable in dysentery (particularly Pelargonium antidysentericum), also for ulcerations of the stomach and upper part of the intestines.
---Other Species---
P. triste, native also of the Cape. This has yellow flowers with a purple spot, always open, but only fragrant after the sun has left them. The tuberous roots are eaten by the natives.
Others are cultivated for the distillation of a volatile oil (from the leaves) which is not unlike that from rose petals; P. roseum has very fragrant foliage; P. capitatum gives a good essential oil and yields Pelargonic fatty acid, this specie is often called rose geranium.
The oil of P. odoratissimum is much used as an adulterant to oil of Roses.
See MONSONIA. (no listing found)
