STiEHELlNA. 



fomewhat corymbofe, making a Angularly elegant appear- 

 ance, even in dried fpecimens, on account of their partly 

 downy calyx, variegated with rofe-colour and brown, fur- 

 mounted by the tuft of filvery fecd-diywn, intermixed with 

 the long, tubular, crimfon fonts, which are eight or ten 

 in each calyx. The genus of this fpecies was confidered 

 doubtful by Linnteus, becaufe the Jhd-do'wn is defcnbed 

 by Gerard as iimple. It is, however, curioufly branched 

 from the bafe, which, added to the bearded anthen, fuffi- 

 ciently eitablifhes the charaaer, though we have not exa- 

 mined the fcales of the receptacle. The habit, moreover, is 

 well marked, and proves this genus, which fome French 

 botanifts have fcrupled to admit, to be one of the mod na- 

 tural, as it unqueftianably is the moft elegant, of the fynge- 

 nefious family in Europe. Willdenow has furely altered the 

 fpecific charafter for the worfe. 



2. S. arborefcens. Storax-leaved Stashelina. Linn. Mant. 

 III. Willd. n. 2. Ait. n. 2. Schreb. Dec. t. i. Sm. 

 Fl. Graec. Sibth. t. S45, unpublifhed. (Cyanus arbo- 

 refcens altera, Ityracis folio; Alpin. Exot. 33. t. 32. 

 Ciano friiticofo di Candia ; Pon. Bald. 165.) — Leaves 

 ftalked, eUiptical, entire ; filky beneath.— Native of rocks 

 on the white mountains of Crete, and in the ifles of Hyeres. 

 Miller is faid to have cultivated this fine plant, before the 

 hard winter of 1740, which was fatal to fo many oriental 

 varieties in the Englifli gardens. The _/?£/« is woody, two 

 feet high, fometimes an inch in diameter, with round, leafy, 

 filky, afcending branches. Leaves remarkably handfome, 

 elliptical or fomewhat heart-fhaped, obtufe, two or three 

 inches long and half as broad ; fmooth and dark-green above ; 

 white and beautifully filky beneath ; with one rib, and many 

 branching veins. Footjlalks filky, about an inch long. 

 Floiuers terminal, cofymbofe, light purple. Colyx {lightly 

 fwelling, its fcales roundifh-ovate, partly filky. Anthers 

 with a double feathery beard. Seed-down roughifh, cloven 

 in a finger-like manner, like the fcales of the receptacle. 



3. S. frutkofa. Smooth Plantain-leaved Stsehelina. 

 Linn. Syll. Nat. ed. 12. v. 2. 538. Willd. n. 3. (Cen- 

 taurea fruticofa ; Linn. Sp. PI. 1286. Serratula ; Lamarck 

 f. 3. Cyanus repens ; Lob. Ic. 548.) — Leaves (jbovato- 

 lanceolate, entire, tapering at the bafe, fmooth on both 

 fides. — Native of Crete and the Levant. Dr. Slbthorp 

 mentions having gathered it on rocks in the ifland of Chero, 

 but no fpecimens are found in his herbarium. The ftem is 

 {hrubby, with round, minutely roughifh, branches. Leaves 

 near two inches long, dotted, tapering down into a winged 

 footftalk. Flowers faid to be white. Calyx nearly cylin- 

 drical, with oblong, acute, partly downy fcales. Seed- 

 down rough. Its peculiar ftriifture, or that of the fcales 

 of the receptacle, our fpecimens will not allow us to afcertain. 



4. S. hajlata. Halberd-leaved Staehelina. Vahl. Symb. 

 V. 1. 70. Willd. n. 4. (Chrj-focoma fpatulata ; Forflc. 

 ^gypt.-Arab. 147.) — " Stem ihnibby. Leaves hallate, 

 hoary, feffile." — Gathered by Forllcall nearTascs, in Arabia 

 Fehx. A low rigid Jhrub, with numerous, round, hoary 

 branches. Leaves not half an inch long, very obtufe, dilated 

 into an horizontal lobe at each fide ; molt lioary beneath ; 

 tapering at the bafe. Flowers folitary, feffile, towards the 

 extremities of the branche?. Calyx at firft cylindrical, then 

 turbinate, with linear keeled fcales. Seeds villous ; down 

 rulty, rather rigid, very finely toothed where it projefts 

 beyond the calyx. Receptacle fcarcely chaffy. — Vahl, from 

 whom we borrow this defcription, as we have feen no fpc- 

 cimcn, might poffibly not be aware of the true charafters 

 of a St^helina, and therefore might, like Linr.Kus, Gerard, 

 and others, not obferve whether ihe feed-down were branched 

 in this fpecies. Its genus therefore remains doubtful. 



5. S. unijo/culo/a. Simple-flowered Stathelina. Sm. 

 Prodr. Fl. Graec. Sibth. n. 2016. Fl. Graec. t. 846, un- 

 publifhed. — Leaves ovate, acute, toothed ; downy and 

 fnow-white beneath. Stem fomewhat fhrubby. Calyx 

 fingle-flowered. — Found on mount ParnafTus, by Dr. Sib- 

 thorp. The root of this very pretty fpecies is ttrong and 

 woody, bearing numerous, partly decumbent, branched, 

 leafy, hoary, ffirubby Jlems, about a fpan high. Leaves 

 ftaliied, an inch or an inch and half long ; fmooth and 

 dark-green above ; very white beneath ; their points fome- 

 what reflexed. Flotuers five or fix at the top of each item, 

 corymbofe, ereft, fmall. Calyx cylindrical, brown, (hin- 

 ing, nearly fmooth, half an inch long, containing a foli- 

 tary, purple, flarry Jloret, with tawny anthers, whofe bafe 

 is furnifhed with a double feathery beard. Seed-down 

 cloven in a digitate manner. Nothing can be more cer- 

 tain than the genus of this plant, though its fingle Jloret 

 forms one of thofe exceptions in its natural order, which 

 render abfolute definitions, in botany, fcarcely ever pof- 

 fible. 



6. S. llicifoUa. Holly-leaved Stihelina. Linn. Suppl. 

 358. Willd. n. 5. Sm. Plant. Ic. t. 71. — Leaves oppo- 

 fite, on fhort flalks, heart-fhaped, bluntly toothed ; fmooth 

 and fhining above ; woolly beneath. Points of the calyx- 

 fcales naked. — Native of New Granada, from whence 

 Mutis fent fpecimens to Linnxus. Thejlem is fhrubby, or 

 arborefcent, with round leafy branches, downy when young. 

 Leaves rather above an inch long, rigid, obtufe, revolute, 

 coarfely toothed, reticulated with veins ; of a fhining green, 

 as if varnifhed, on the upper fide ; denfely woolly and white 

 beneath ; on fhort, thick, hozry Jlalis, remarkable for be- 

 ing oppofite, thofe of all the foregoing being alternate. 

 Stipuliis none. Panicles terminal, corymbofe, denfely woolly, 

 with lanceolate woolly braHeas. Calyx almoft hemifpheri- 

 cal, very woolly ; it? inner fcales with fmooth, membranous, 

 fringed, finally inflexcd, points. Florets numerous, yellow ; 

 their limb erecl. ^nthers with two points at the bafe. 

 Seed-down rough, or feathery, fcarcely branched or digi- 

 tate. Scales of the receptacle fliort, rigid, with two or three 

 teeth. 



7. S. aquifolia. Kermes-Ieaved Stashelina. (Elichry- 

 fum arborefcens, ilicis cocciglandiferx folio ; Plum. Cat. 

 Amer. 9. Ic. 114. t. 123. f. 2.) — Leaves fcattered, on 

 fhort ftalks, roundifh, abrupt, with fpinous teeth ; fmooth 

 and fhining above ; woolly beneath. Calyx-fcales downy 

 throughout. — Gathered in South America by Plumier. 

 This is in many refpects nearly akin to the laft, though 

 eflentially diftiniS. The leaves are but half the fize, with 

 finer veins, and Iharp fpinous teeth. Flowers yellow, feffile, 

 either folitary, or feveral together, at the leafy fummit of 

 each branch. Calyx longer, and more regularly imbricated, 

 its fcales lanceolate, finely and uniformly woolly, without 

 any membranous inflexed points. The anthers have two 

 briftly naked points at their bafe, like the preceding, and 

 ihe feed-down is rough ; we cannot perceive it to be branched. 

 We have not been able to examine the receptacle. There 

 cannot be the leall doubt of this plant belo.iging to the 

 lame genus as the lafl, and the points in which it differs 

 fpecifically, ferve to bring it nearer to other Stxhelina. 



8. b. gnaphalodes. Soft-linear-leaved Staehelina. Linn. 

 Sp. PI. 1 1 76. (Leyfera fquarroia ; Thunb. Prodr. 160. 

 Willd. Sp. PI. V. 3. 2133. .lacea sethiopica, lloschadia 

 citrinx majoribus tomentofis foliis, capitulonim fpinis et 

 fquamulis ex aureo colore nitentibus ; Pluk. Almageft. 193. 

 t. 302. f. 3.) — Leaves thread-fliaped, woolly. Flowers 

 foUtary, on long ftalks. Points of the calyx-fcales reflexed, 

 membranous, naked, acute Native of the Cape of Good 



Hope, 





