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HELICHRYSUM MACRANTHUM. 
(large-flowered HELICHRYSUM.) 
CLASS. ORDER. 
SYNGENESIA. SUPERFLUA. 
KATURAL ORDER. 
COMPOSIT.E. 
Generic Character. — Flowers tubular ; marginal ones few, feminine. Calyx imbricated, unequal ; 
scales scariose ; interior of the disc longer, membranaceous, shining ; rays coloured. Receptacle 
naked. Pappus feathery or hairy. 
Specific Character. — Plant annual, herbaceous. Stem erect or ascending, nearly simple, hairy, "with 
one head of flowers on the summit. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, or partially spathulate, obtuse, 
entire; base of the petioles angular or amplexicaul, dilated on both sides, green, hairy. Heads 
of flowers white, tipped with pale rose colour. Scales shining internally, broadly ovate, obtuse, 
mucronulate. Receptacle naked. Pappus rough. 
Every flower to which the popular appellation of ' everlasting* can be applied, 
would appear, on the bare announcement of such a property, to command the 
interest and attention of the lover of plants. The mere idea of pleasurable dura- 
tion seems to carry with it associations of so delightful a character, that, where 
the object of it is at all calculated to excite similar sensations, its effect upon the 
mind is equally striking and permanent. But when, by a happy combination of 
circumstances, this property is found to exist collaterally with the highest and 
best pretensions to beauty and elegance, it is natural to suppose that the subject 
of them would sustain a corresponding elevation in the esteem of the observer. 
The charming subject of our present figure is both exquisitely beautiful, and 
its flowers are, in the usual sense of the term, of everlasting duration. It will 
therefore need no eulogium to introduce it to notice, nor can any effort to describe 
its merits increase its value. It is one of those intrinsically interesting objects 
which requires only to be exhibited at once to create both delight and admiration, 
and render the beholder anxious only to know how he can become possessed of it. 
The Swan River colony, a tract which is described as being remarkably fertile 
in the more beautiful of nature's productions, is the native country of this valuable 
