272 FLOWERS OF GARDEN AND GREENHOUSE 
also be said to be feathered, though very slightly; but here they are 
also connected together at the base and tipped with a yellow tassel-like 
brush. In general habit. these plants differ from Helipterum, being more 
erect, branched from the base with equally erect branches, each ending 
in a single large flower-head. The leaves are very slender, pointed, and 
stalkless, The few species are Australian. Only one of these, with its 
varieties, is found in cultivation. 
ACROCLINIUM ROSEUM (rosy). Stems erect, 1 to 2 
feet high. Leaves very slender, scattered. Flower-heads 
solitary, at end of erect slender branches; outer bracts brown, inner 
white or rosy ; florets deep yellow; August. Introduced from Champion 
Bay, Western Australia (1854). Plate 136. There is a form with white 
bracts (var. alba) and another (var. grandiflorum) with flowers larger 
than in the type. 
Species, 
This is a half-hardy annual, and the seeds should not 
be sown out of doors until the end of May or beginning of 
June. If, however, they are wanted for greenhouse or conservatory 
decoration—for which purpose they are very suitable—the seed should 
be sown in pots about August or September, and raised in a cold frame. 
They will then flower during the winter. The soil most suitable is a 
light loam, to which has been added well-rotted manure; and the 
situation chosen should be a sunny one. If desired for early summer- 
flowering, the seed should be sown upon a hot-bed in March, the seed- 
lings pricked into pots and gradually hardened before transplanting n 
bed or border about the end of May. Where convenient both these 
methods may be followed, and a succession thus ensured. Like those of 
Helipterwm, the flower-heads of Acrocliniwm are very useful for winter 
bouquets if gathered soon after expansion and dried in shade. 
Description of Upper portions of branches, Acroclinium roseum, 
Plate 136, iving different aspects of the flower-heads, with an 
example of the var. alba, Fig. 1 shows the flower-head in section ; 2, 
~ single floret enlarged; 3, the same in section; 4, the fruit, natural 
size and enlarged; 5, a seedling, 
Cultivation. 
IMMORTELLES 
Natural Order Compostrm. Genus Helichrysum. 
HEticurysum (Greek, helios, the sun, and chrysos, gold). A genus 
comprising about two hundred and sixty species of herbaceous or 
