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PB ACTIO AL GUIDE TO GABDEN PLANTS helichrysum 



linear entire leaves, and flower-heads often 

 borne in corymbose clusters. Involucre 

 bell-shaped, hemispherical or roundish, 

 yellow or white. Eeceptacle flat. 



Culture a/nd Propagation. — Waltzlas 

 flourish in ordinary garden soil in open 

 sunny situations. They are all natives 

 of Australia, where they are more or less 

 of a perennial character. In our cUmate, 

 however, it is easier to treat them as 

 tender annuals and raise them from seeds 

 sown in gentle heat about March, and 

 plant the seedlings out at the end of May. 

 They are good plants for the border, and 

 their flowers when cut and dried in 

 autumn may be kept for room decoration 

 like other ' Everlasting ' flowers, such as 

 Bhodanthe, Helichrysum &c. 



W. aurea. — A pretty species 12-18 in. 

 high, with rosettes of linear leaves and 

 shining golden flower-heads borne in loose 

 clusters in summer and autumn. 



Culture dc. as above. 



W. corymbosa (W. acuminata). — A 

 roughly hairy or downy plant 12-18 in. 

 high, with stems branching from the mid- 

 dle upwards, clothed with linear leaves. 

 Flowers satiny-white, rose, or yellow. 



Culture dc. as above. 



W. gfrandiflora. — This species re- 

 sembles W. aurea in height, habit, and 

 appearance, but produces much larger 

 heads of bright yellow blossoms. 



Culture dc. as above. 



HELIPTERUM. — A genus closely 

 allied to Helichryauin, from which it 

 differs in having the hairs of the pappus 

 plumose or feathery instead of roughly 

 iairy. 



Culture and Propagation. — Helip- 

 teruins require rich soil and warm posi- 

 tions, otherwise they are hardly worth 

 growing out of doors. Seeds may be 

 sown outside in April, but are better 

 raised in heat early in March. The seed- 

 lings are grown on until June, when they 

 may be put outside in masses in the flower 

 border. For the general treatment of 

 annuals see p. 78. 



H. humboldtianum (H. Sandfordi). — 

 A pretty woolly-white West Australian 

 annual 1-1{> ft. high, with lance-shaped 

 linear leaves. Flowers in summer, bright 

 yellow, passing into a metallic green when 

 •dry. 



Culture dc. as above. 



H. Manglesi (Bhodanthe Manglesi). 

 A native of Western Australia 1-lJ ft. 

 high, with ovate-oblong or broadly lance- 

 shaped leaves, with rounded stem-clasping 

 auricles at the base. Flowers in summer, 

 soft rosy-pink with yellow centres, on 

 long stalks. 



Culture dc. as above. 



H. roseum {Acrocliniumi roseum). — 

 A pretty Australian annual 1-2 ft. high, 

 with linear acute leaves and beautiful 

 rosy flowers on the ends of the slender 

 branches. When picked young the 

 flower-heads may be dried as ' Everlast- 

 ings.' There is a white variety album, 

 and a large rose variety, gra/ndiflorwm. 



Culture dc. as above. 



HELICHRYSUM (Everlasting; 

 Immortelle). — A large genus containing 

 260 species of herbaceous or shrubby 

 plants, mostly natives of S. Africa. 

 Flower-heads large, solitary. Bracts of 

 the involucre scarious, not sUvery, spread- 

 ing or recurved. Pappus rough or some- 

 what feathery. 



Culture and Propagation. — The 

 following are the only Helichrysums of 

 note for the garden. They thrive in rich 

 loamy soU, and should be grown in bold 

 masses in the flower-border. Seeds are 

 sown in slight heat in March, and are 

 pricked out and grown on until June, 

 when they can be put out in the same 

 way as other annuals, see p. 78. Flowers 

 for drying should only be half open, and 

 hung downwards in bunches in a cool airy 

 place to come to perfection. 



H. arenarium (Yelloiv Everlasting). — 

 A native of Europe 6-12 in. high, with 

 lance-shaped entire, stem-clasping leaves, 

 downy white on both surfaces. Flowers 

 in summer, bright golden-yellow, borne 

 in compound corymbs. 



Culture dc. as above. 



H. bracteatura. — A beautiful Australian 

 annual 3-4 ft. high, with entire lance- 

 shaped leaves, and variously coloured 

 flowers in August. There are several 

 fine varieties, with flowers varying in 

 colour from pure white to rose, light and 

 pale yellow. There are also handsome 

 forms in which the central (or disc) florets 

 have become changed from a tubular to a 

 strap-shaped form, and this change has 

 given a double-flowered race. The colour- 

 ing among these double forms is very 

 varied, and white, red, yellow, carmine, 



