Volume 4 — PLATE CCLXII. XERANTHEMUM SPIRALE. Spiral-leaved Everlasting-Flower.

CLASS XIX. ORDER II.

SYNGENESIA POLYGAMIA SUPERFLUA. Tips united. Superfluous Pointals.

ESSENTIAL GENERIC CHARACTER.

Receptaculum paleacem. Pappus setaceus. Calyx imbricatus, radiatus; radio colorato.

Receptacle chaffy. Feather bristly. Empalement tiled, rayed; the ray coloured.

See Xeranthemum speciocissimum, Vol. I. Pl. LI.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Xeranthemum foliis spiraliter-imbricatis carinatis, sub-obliquis; floribus solitariis, maximis.

Everlasting Flower with spirally-tiled leaves, keeled, rather oblique; flowers solitary, very large.

REFERENCE TO THE PLATE.

1. An outer scale of the Empalement.

2. An Hermaphrodite Floret, with the Feather of the Seed.

3. A Female Floret, a little magnified.

4. The Pointal, magnified.

This species of Everlasting Flower is very common near Cape Town; yet, ’till the year 1800, it has never been introduced to Britain. Montague Burgoyne, Esq. of Mark Hall, Essex, was the first to procure seeds of it, and it has flowered with him, this year 1802. Our drawing was made in July, but the flower lasts near three months; it is the largest of the genus we have as yet seen, and certainly one of the most beautiful. All the species, from the Cape, are very liable to rot from damps, in the winter; they should be kept on an airy, dry shelf, as near the glass as possible, during the foggy months. They, in general, ripen seeds with us, but are with difficulty increased by cuttings; which should be made early in spring, planted in pots of sand, and kept quite dry for some time after they are planted. The grown plants thrive best in a very sandy peat earth.