614 HELIANTHEMUM 



They are distinguished from H. vulgare in having stellate down on both 

 surfaces of the leaves. To this group the sun rose known in gardens as 

 H. CROCEUM belongs (Sweet's Cistineae, t. 53). The habit is the same as that 

 of H. vulgare, but it is very 'distinct in summer in the almost white foliage, with 

 which the rich yellow flowers are in admirable contrast. Its proper name is 

 H. glaucum var. croceum, Boissier. Native of S. and S.W. Europe. Many of 

 the garden varieties (see under vulgare) are hybrids, or perhaps forms of this 

 species, more especially those whitish on the upper surface. 



H. HALIMIFOLIUM, Persoon. 



(Sweet's Cistineae, t. 4.) 



A shrub 2 to 3 ft. high in the open, twice as high against a wall ; 

 branches erect, scaly, downy and white when young, becoming smoother 

 afterwards. Leaves narrowly obovate or oblong, the lower ones only short- 

 stalked, | to 2 ins. long, to \ in. wide ; tapered and three-nerved at 

 the base ; they are white with scaly down when young, becoming dull 

 grey-green with age. Flowers bright yellow, i^ ins. across, with a small 

 spot at the base of each petal ; produced in erect, comparatively few-flowered 

 panicles 6 ins. or more high ; petals inversely heart-shaped ; sepals three 

 to five, the two outer small ones often missing, the inner ones ovate. In 

 wild specimens the sepals are densely covered with scales as well as some- 

 what downy, but in cultivated plants they are frequently almost smooth. 



Native of Portugal, Spain, and the Mediterranean region, some of its 

 forms being found in N. Africa ; cultivated in England since the middle 

 of the seventeenth century. Belonging to the same group as H. formosum, 

 it is distinguished by its tall, slender flower-stems, and its scaly or glabrous, 

 never densely silky calyx. 



H. OCYMOIDES, Persoon. 



(Sweet's Cistineae, tt. 40, 13 ; H. algarvense, DunaL"} 



An erect shrub, 2 to 3 ft. high ; young shoots clothed with a dense white 

 down, with which are mixed long silky hairs. Leaves narrowly obovate 

 or oblong, three-nerved, and tapered at the base, mostly pointed at the apex ; 

 \ to i in. long, ^ to j in. wide ; covered with a close, white down when 

 young, becoming green with age. Panicles erect, but loose and comparatively 

 few-flowered, 3 to 9 ins. high, sparsely hairy ; flower-stalks slender. Flowers 

 rich yellow, I to ij ins. across, petals triangular, with a black and purple 

 blotch at the base of each. Sepals three, oval-lanceolate, sparsely hairy, 

 or smooth and glossy. 



Native of Portugal and Spain ; introduced in 1880. It is a very pretty 

 species, noteworthy for the golden yellow of its flowers and the deeply 

 coloured blotch. It is hardy except in severe winters. It most resembles 

 H. alyssoides and H. halimifolium, but from the former differs in the blotched 

 petals, and smooth or nearly smooth sepals. It is never scaly, as in 

 H. halimifolium, and the petal blotch is much deeper ; both, however, 

 have the same marked difference in colour between the young and old leaves. 



H. UMBELLATUM, Miller. 

 (Sweet's Cistineae; t. 5.) 



An evergreen bush of erect, open habit, about 18 ins. high, with the 

 general aspect of a small rosemary ; young branches viscid and downy. 

 Leaves linear, viscid when young ; stalkless, -| to i^- ins. long, ^ to in. 



