S I L 



S I L 



till the autumn, v. hen they arc planted out in 



tlic borders, ccc. 



s perennial sorts may likewise be inci 

 •ceds m the same manner ; but the 



- or the head-, ami parting the 

 roots, planting them out in - - in the 



snmnfer months. The shrubby 

 may be increased Lv slips am! cut) 

 the branch..? or shoots, winch should be planted 

 out in similar situations in the spring and sum- 

 nier seasons. 



They all afford ornament and varietv in the 

 clumps ami borders of pleasure- grounds. 



SILI'HI L'M, a genu* containing plains of the 

 tall-erowing, herbaceous, perennial kind. 



It belongs to the class ami order Syngene&ia 

 Polysomia Necessnria, and ranks in the natural 

 order of Composiite Oppasiiifolia*. 



The characters are: that the calyx is common 

 ovate, imbricate, squarrose: scales ovate-oblong, 

 bent back in the middle, prominent every way, 

 permanent : the corolla compound radiate : co- 

 rollets hermaphrodite in the di-k many : females 

 in the ray fewer: the proper of the hermaphro- 

 dites one-petalled, funnel-form, five-toothed ; 

 the tube scarcely narrower than the border : — 

 of the females lanceolate, very long, often three- 

 toothed : stamina in the hermaphrodites : fila- 

 ments five, capillary, very short : anther cylin- 

 drical, tubular: the pistillum in the hermaphro- 

 dites: germ round, very slender: style filiform, 

 very long, villose : stigma simple: — in the fe- 

 males, germ obcordate : style simple, short : 

 stigmas two, bristlc-'haped, length of the style: 

 there is no pericarpium : calyx unchanged : the 

 seeds in the hermaphrodites none : — in the fe- 

 males solitary, submembranaceous, obcordate, 

 ■with the euge membranaceous, two-homed, 

 emarsinate : the receptacle chaffy : chaff's linear. 



The species cultivated are : 1. S. luiiniutum, 

 Jagged-leaved Silphium ; 9. S. ttreiinthiiium, 

 Broad-leaved Silphium ; 8. S. Asleriscus, Hairy- 

 stalked Silphium j 4. S. trijoliatum, Three- 

 I Silphium. 



The first has a perennial root : the stem 

 twice the height of a man, as thick as the 

 thumb, quite simple, smooth below, above rug- 

 ged with brown tubercles and white spreading 

 hairs, round : the leaves petiolcd, two feet in 

 length and a foot in breadth, embracing at the 

 base, pinnatifid ; segments on each side four or 

 five, distant, narrow, tooth-sinuate, rugged, with 

 very solid i J on both sides; margin of 



the upper leaves purplish: the cal\x of ten 

 scales, ending in large awl-shaped spines : the 

 petals of the ray thirty, length of the calvx, with 

 a bifid slender style : the florets of the disk yel- 

 low, many, separated by chaff's, attenuated at 



the base, with i simple style. It is a , 



From July to Sept em 

 I he second species lias two or three stems, 



looth ; panicled 



\/<, but without any branches throughout 



the whole length, being best t with distant leaves s 



radical and lower cat. hue leaves large, hcart- 

 b, sharply toothed on the 

 edges, and ciliated With very short hiirs ; they 

 are wry v<.i;i\\ but not wrinkled: the footstalks 

 are long, ana embrace the stem at their bai 

 the stem-leaves are similar, but scarcely hearted 

 at the base, and the others are more obi. 

 and half embrace the stem: the peduncles are 

 gated, round, and mostly leafless ; though 

 a few ol them are furnished with two oppoi 



lets : the terminal Bower on the stem Bowers 

 first, and when this begins to seed the lateral 

 incles of the. panicle begin to extend and 

 proceed to flower : the snail of the flower, 

 which is moderately large, and' j similar 



to that of the Sun-flower. It is a native of 

 North America, flowering in August and Sep- 

 tember. 



The third has a perennial root: the stem four 

 or five feet high, thick, solid, set with prickly 

 hairs, and having many purple spots: the lower 

 leaves alternate; upper opposite and sessile, 

 rough, about two inches long, and an inch broad 

 near the base, having a few slight indentures on 

 their edges : the upper part of the stem dh , 

 into five or six small branches, terminated by 

 yellow radiated flowers like those of the peren- 

 nial Sun-flower, but smaller, having genera 

 nine florets in the ray. It is a native of North 

 America, flowering from July to September. 



1 be fourth species has a perennial and woody 

 root: the stems annual, rising five feet high or 

 more in good land, of a purplish colour," and 

 branching towards the top: the leaves oblong, 



i, having s,, me -harp teeth on lh( 

 they are from three to tour inches long, "and 

 almost two broad; towards the bottom of the 

 stem they siand b\' fours at each joint ; higher 

 up they are by threes, and at the top by pa. 

 sitting close to the stems : the flower's upon 

 pretty long peduncles, solitary.. It is a native 

 of many parts of North America, flowering from 

 July to October. 



Culture. — They are all readily increased by 

 parting ihe roots and planting them out in the 

 autumn or spring, where they are to remain in 

 the borders and clumps. Thev may also he 

 raised by planting the slips in the same manner: 

 thev .should he afterwards managed as the per- 

 ennial Sun-flower, 



They afford a good variety and effect among 

 perennial plants in the aun on. 



