General introduction

The genera Geranium and Pelargonium are invariably confused by the general public and also plant sales personnel, health food shop workers and alternative medicine practitioners, especially aromatherapists. This confusion has existed before Linnaeus (1753) and his binomial system of classification, where both genera were put under the genus Geranium, and although Sweet (1820) and other botanists reclassified them under two genera, acceptance by the majority of laymen as well as nurserymen is still low. The flowers of typical Geranium and Pelargonium species are shown in Figure 1.1.