S I L 



S I L 



till tlie autumn, wlitn they are planted out in 

 the borders. &c. 



The perennial sorts may likewise be increased 

 frorai seeds in the same manner ; but the usual 

 way is by slips oF the heads, and parting the 

 roots, planting them out in shady places in the 

 spring or early sunimer months. The shrubby 

 sort may be increased by slips and eutlinjis of 

 the branches or shoots, which should be planted 

 out in similar situations in the Sjjring and sum- 

 mer seasons. 



They all afford ornament and variety in the 

 clumps and borders of pleasure grounds. 



SILPHIUM, a genus containing plants of the 

 tall-growing, herbaceous, perennial kind. 



It belongs to the class and order Syngenesia 

 PoUjunmia Necessaria, and ranks in the natural 

 order^of Composilce Op posit if oUa. 



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 disk 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 pistillnm 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, bristle-shaped, length of the style: 

 there is no pericarpium : caly.N unchanged : the 

 seeds in the hermaphrodites none : — in the fe- 

 males solitary, submembranaceous, obcordate, 

 with the edge membranaceous, two-horned, 

 emarginate : the receptacle chafTy : chaff's linear. 



The species cultivated are : \. S. ladniatnm, 

 Jaofffed-lcavcd Silnhium ; 2. S. terthiniluiumi. 

 Broad-leaved Silphium; 3. S. Aslerisais, Hairy- 

 stalked Silphium ; 4. S. trifnlialuiii. Three- 

 leaved 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 tuberelts and white spreading 

 hairs, round: the leaves pctioled, two feet in 

 length and a foot in breadth, embracing at tlie 

 base, pinnatifid ; segments on each side four or 

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

 very solid ribs raised on both sides ; margin of 

 th€ upper leaves purplish : the calyx of ten 

 scales, ending in large awl-shaped spines : the 

 petals of the ray thirtv, length of the calyx, with 

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

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



the bas^e, with a simple style. It is a native of 

 NorthAmeriea, floweringfrom JulytoSeplember, 



'I he second species has two or three stems, 

 strong, upright, annual, smooth ; panickd 

 above, but without any branches throughout 

 the whole length, being beset with distant leaves; 

 radical and lower cauline leaves large, lieart- 

 shaped, upright, rough, sharply toothed on the 

 edges, and ciliated with very short hairs; they 

 are very veiny, but not wrinkled : the footstalks 

 are long, and embrace the stem at their base : 

 the stem-leaves are similar, but scarcely hearted 

 at the base, and the others are more oblonf, 

 and half embrace the stem : the peduncles a?e 

 elongated, round, and mostly leafless ; though 

 a few of them are furnished with two opposUe 

 leaflets : the terminal flower on the stem flowers 

 first, and when this begins to seed the lateral 

 peduncles of the panicle begin to extend and 

 proceed to flower : the smell of the flower, 

 which is moderately large, and yellow, is 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 divides 

 into five or six small branches, terminated by 

 yellow radiated flowers like those of the peren- 

 nial Siin-flowcr, but smaller, havino; generallv 

 nine florets in the ray. It is a native o"f iSJorth 

 America, ilowering from July to September. 



The fourth species has a perennial and woody 

 root: the stems annual, rising five feet liitrh or 

 more in good land, of a pur"plish colour,^ and 

 branching towards the top : the leaves oblong, 

 rough, having some sharp teeth on theedo-es;. 

 they are from three to four inches Ions, and 

 almost two broad ; towards the boLtom'of the^ 

 stem they stand by fours at each Joint; hi'^her 

 up they are by threes, and at the top hy pairs, 

 sitting close to the stems : the flowers upon 

 pretty long peduncles, solitarv. It is a native 

 of many parts of North America, flowering from 

 July to October. 



Culture. — They are all readily increased bv 

 parting the roots and planting them cut in the 

 autumn or spring, where they arc to remain in- 

 the borders and clumps. They may also be 

 raised by planting ttie slips in the same manner: 

 they should be afterw;irds managed as the per- 

 ennial Sun-flower. 



They aflTord a good variety and effect among- 

 other perennial plants in the summer season. 



