Receptacle naked, flatish, and dotted.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER.
Xeranthemum fruticosum, erectum; foliis amplexicaulibus, lanceolatis, trinerviis; ramis unifloris, subundis.
Everlasting flower with an upright shrubby stem; leaves embracing the stem, lance-shaped, and three-nerved; branches with one flower, and nearly naked.
REFERENCE TO THE PLATE.
1. An Hermaphrodite floret, (natural size).
2. The Chives, Pointal, and Seed-bud, (magnified).
3. The Pointal, and Seed-bud from a female floret, (magnified).
This handsome species of Xeranthemum was introduced, according to the Kew catalogue, by Mr. F. Masson from the Cape of Good Hope, in the year 1787; it is, nevertheless, a very scarce plant, being subject to decay from our winter damps; therefore requires a dry stove for its protection. The blossoms (or rather the flower-cups, for they are the persistent parts) are easily preserved for many years, in all their brilliancy, by cutting them, when they first expand; but our atmosphere seems uncongenial to the ripening of their seeds, and is with great difficulty increased by cuttings. The soil it most approves is sandy peat, with a small portion of loam. Our figure was taken in September last year, at the Hammersmith nursery.[Pg 206]
PLATE 51
