XKRANTIIEMUM. 261 



tured, for it frequently happens that when the 

 seeds have arrived at maturity they fly off when 

 dry, and this sometimes happens in the most 

 beautiful manner. The seeds releasing them- 

 selves from the receptacle are only kept together 

 by the feathery nature of their plumage, which, 

 as it becomes agitated by the air, escapes by 

 swelling first into a kind of dome, the feathers 

 being attached to each other in the most delicate 

 manner imaginable, with the seeds downwards, 

 after which, as they loosen themselves, the effect 

 is still more delicate and singular, as it resem- 

 bles, in miniature, a number of stars, being, 

 thrown out of a circular piece of fire- work. 



The annual Xeranthemum is a native of the 

 south of Europe, and the first notice we have of 

 its being cultivated in this country was in 1658, 

 when it was growing in the botanic garden at 

 Oxford^ under the management of Jacob Robart, 

 a German, who was the original gardener of that 

 establishment. This plant sends up a stalk of 

 about two feet in height, on which the purple or 

 white flowers are supported. These, when ga- 

 thered just before the seeds are ripe, retain their 

 beauty for a great length of time, and the bril- 

 liancy of the purple colour may be restored at 

 the end of several years by holding them in the 

 vapour of any acid. 



