190 



EVERLASTING FLOWERS. 



Natural Order — Asteracece. 



Name. 



Acrocliniuni roseum 



Atnmobium alatum 



Gnaphalium foetidura 



Helycbrysum bracteatum 

 H. roseum 



,, aurantiarum 



,, brunneo rubrum 



,, coccineum , 



„ flavura 



„ purpureum 



,, macranthum 



„ speciosissimum 



Morna elegans 



Stsehelina dubia 



Locality. 



S.W. Australia 



N. Holland 



Cape of Good Hope 



N. Holland 



11 



» 



n •• 



it • 



ii 



ii 



Swan River 



Cape of Good Hope 



Swan River 



South Europe 



Colour of Flower. 



Rosy. 



White. 



Light yellow. 



Yellow and white. 



Rose colour. 



Orange. 



Brownish red. 



Scarlet. 



Yellow. 



Purple. 



Large flowered. 



Most showy. 



Yellow. 



Pink. 



The property possessed by these flowers of resisting decay, may be attri- 

 buted to the presence of large quantities of silica in the juices of the plants ; 

 and this appears the more certain from the fact, that at whatever stage of 

 their development the flowers are gathered, they are still everlasting, and 

 resist all change after the little sap that remains in the stem attached is 

 exhausted. Although these plants are many of them natives of warm 

 climates, yet they are easily cultivated in this county, and most of them 

 will thrive in the open air, and flower profusely. 



A quiet trade in these imperishable flowers already exists. On the Con- 

 tinent as well as in this country, wreaths made of the small yellow variety 

 {Gnaphalium arenarium) are sold in large quantities for adorning the graves 

 and monuments of the departed. The railings which surround the column 

 of Napoleon, in the Place Vendome at Paris, are literally covered with 

 these wreaths, producing a singular effect. In Germany, baskets and 

 bouquets of everlasting flowers and wreaths are sold in the bazaars for 

 decorative purposes ; and within the last few weeks, a quantity of these 

 elegant posies, &c, have been imported into this country, and readily realise 

 from Is. to 7s. 6d. each, according to size and quality, whilst they certainly 

 surpass, both in form and colour, anything ever produced of an artificial 

 kind. Mixed with the everlasting flowers in these German nosegays 

 appear several of the beautiful grasses, recently in high favour with horti- 

 culturists, as well as a sprinkling of flowers not naturally everlasting, but 

 which our ingenious friends profess to have preserved by a peculiar 

 process. 



Wreaths of a yellow variety of everlasting flowers, about the size of a 

 farthing, and strung together transversely, are worn by the natives of the 

 Sandwich Islands as a kind of head ornament. 



It only remains for us to suggest the extensive cultivation of all the 

 varieties of everlasting flowers in this country, for the formation of winter 



