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X E R 
Thefe plants. are generally propagated by feeds, but 
as they never ripen in this country, they muft be pro- 
cured from thole places where they naturally grow, 
or the plants limit be propagated by layers. When 
the feeds 'arrive in England, they ftiould be fown 
in pots filled with light earth as foon as poffible, 
for they do not grow the firft year ; and when they are 
kept out of the ground till fpring, they frequently lie 
two years in the ground before the plants appear ; 
therefore the pots ihould be plunged into the ground 
up to their rims, in an eaft-afpefted border, where 
they may remain during the fummer ; this will pre- 
vent the earth in the pots from drying too fail, which 
it is very apt to do when the pots are fet upon the 
ground in the fun. The only care to be taken of the 
ieeds is, to keep the pots conftantly clean from weeds, 
and in very dry weather refrelh them now and then with 
water. In autumn the pots ihould be placed under a 
common hot-bed frame, where they may be fcreened 
from froft, or elfe plunged into the ground in a warm 
border, and covered with tan to keep out the froft, and 
the following fpring they ihould be plunged into a hot- 
bed, which will bring up the plants. When thefe appear, 
they muft be frequently, but fparingly watered, and 
kept clean from weeds ; and, as the fummer advances, 
thefe of the fecond fort ihould be gradually inured 
to bear the open air, into which they ihould be re- 
moved in June, placing them in a iheltered fituation, 
where they may remain till autumn, when they muit 
be placed in a hot- bed frame to fhelter them in winter. 
The fpring following, before the plants begin to ihoot, 
they ihould be carefully taken up, and each planted 
into a Teparate fmall pot ; thefe may be plunged into 
a gentle hot-bed, which will forward them greatly in 
putting' out new roots. The after care muft be to 
Ihe'iter them for a year or two in winter, until the 
plants have gotten ftrength ; then in the fpring, after 
the danger of froft is over, fome of them may be turn- 
ed out of the pots, and planted in the full ground in 
a warm flickered fituation, where the fecond fort 
will thrive very well, and refift the cold ; but the firft 
is not fo hardy, fo thefe may be planted againft a 
fouth wall, where they will thrive very well. Some 
of the plants of this fort had been planted in the open 
air, in the Chelfea Garden, fome years paft, where they 
had thriven and endured the cold without any cover- 
ing, but the fevere winter in 1740 deftroyed them 
all. Thefe plants may be increafed by cutting off 
fome of their ftrong roots, preferving their fibres to 
them, and thefe planted in pots filled with light earth, 
plunging them into a moderate hot-bed, will caufe 
them to pufh out roots and become plants; but 
thefe will not thrive fo well, nor grow near fo large as 
thofe which are raifed from feeds. 
XERANTHEMUM. Tourn. Inff. R. H. 499. 
tab. 284. Lin. Gen. Plant. 851. [from fyk dry, and 
ap 9 os a flower, q. d. dry flower. Cluflus calls this 
plant Ptarmica Auftriaca, but that name being ap- 
plied to another genu?, this title of Xeranthemum is 
now generally received. It is vulgarly called Immortal, 
became the flower of it may be kept for many years ; 
for it has rigid petals, which crackle as if they were 
plates of metal.] Eternal Flower, or Ptarmica, vulgo. 
The Characters are, 
The flower is compofed of hermaphrodite and female flo- 
rets, which have one common fcaly empalement. The her- 
maphrodite florets which form the dijk , are funnel- fh aped, 
fpreading, and cut into five points ; the female florets, 
which comp of e the border or rays, are tubuhus, and cut in- 
to five lefts equal points ; the hermaphrodite florets have 
five jhort fiamina terminated by cylindrical fummits, and 
a fiber t germen, fupporting a fender ftyle, crowned by a 
■ bifid ftigma. The germen afterward becomes an oblong 
feed crowned with hairs, which ripens in the empalement. 
The female florets have no fiamina, but their germen , 
Jiyles , . and feeds, are the fame as the hermaphrodite. 
This genus of plants is ranged in the fecond fection 
of Linnaeus’s nineteenth clafs, which contains thofe 
plants whofe flowers are compofed of female and her- 
maphrodite. florets which are both fruitful. 
X E R 
The Species are, 
1. Xeranthemum ( Annuum ) herbaceUm folds lanceok- 
tis patentibus, calile herbaceo. Lin. Sp. Plant. 12m. 
Eternal Flower with fpreading ftp ear -Jh aped leaves'. Xe- 
rarithemiim fiore fimplici purpureo majore. H. L. 
Eternal Flower , with a larger, purple. Jingle flower , 
commonly called Ptarmica . 
2. Xeranthemum ( Inapertum ) foliis lineari-lanceolatis 
utrinque tomentofis. Eternal Flower with linear flpear- 
Jhap'ed leaves, which are downy on both fides. Xeranthe- 
mum fiore fimplici purpureo minore. Tourn. Inft. 
R. H. 499. Eternal Flower with a fmaller. Jingle, pur- 
ple flower. 
3. Xeranthemum {(Orient ale ) foliis lineari-lanceolatis, 
capitulis cylindraceis, famine maximo. Eternal Flower 
with linear fpear-Jhaped leaves, cylindrical heads, and a 
very large feed. Xeranthemum fiore purpureo fimpli- 
ci minimo, femine maximo. H. L. Eternal Flower, 
with the fmallefi , Jingle , purple flower, and the large f 
feed. 
4. Xeranthemum (, Speciojijfimum ) fruticofum er eft urn, 
foliis amplexicauiibus trinerviis, ram is unifloris fub- 
nudis. Lin. Sp. Plant. 1202. Shrubby , eredi, Eternal 
Flower , with fpear-Jhaped leaves, and almoft naked 
branches bearing one flower. Xeranthemum tomento- 
fum latifoliutn, flore maximo. Burman. PI. Afr. 178. 
tab. 66. fig. 2. Broad-leaved, woolly. Eternal Flower, 
with the largefi flower. 
5. Xeranthemum (. Retortum ) caulibus frutefeentibus 
provolutis, foliis tomentofis recurvatis. Lin. Sp. 858. 
Eternal B'lower with Jhrubby trailing ftalks, and dozvny 
recurved leaves. Xeranthemoides procumbens, polii 
folio. Hort. Elth. 423. Tr ailingB aft ard Eternal Flower , 
with a Mountain Foley leaf. 
6 . Xeranthemum ( Sefamoides ) ramis unifloris imbrica- 
tis, foliis linearibus adpreflis. Lin. Sp. Plant. 1203. 
Eternal Flozver with imbricated branches with one flower , 
and linear prejfled leaves. Xeranthemum ramofum, fo- 
liolis fquamofis linearibus, floribus argenteis. Burm. 
Afr. 1 8 1. tab. 67. f. 2. Branching Eternal Flozver , 
with fquamofle leaves and Jilvery flowers. 
The firft fort grows naturally in Auftria, and fome 
parts of Italy, but has been long cultivated in the 
Englifh gardens for ornament. Of this there are the 
following varieties ; one with a large. Angle, white 
flower, the purple and white with double flowers, 
though thefe only differ in the colour and multiplicity 
of petals in their flowers, fo are not mentioned as 
diftinft fpecies, yet where their feeds are carefully 
faved feparate, they are generally conftant. 
Thefe plants are annual ; they have a flender branch- 
ing ftalk, which is covered with a white down that 
is angular and furrowed ; it riles about two feet high, 
and is garniflied with fpear-fhaped leaves an inch and 
a half long, and a quarter of an inch broad, which 
are hoary, fitting clofe to the ftalk, but fpread out 
from it. The ftalk divides into four or five branches ; 
thefe are garniflied with a few leaves at their lower 
parts, of the fame fhape with the other, but are lefs. 
The upper part of the branches is naked, and fuf- 
tains one flower at the top, compofed of feveral fe- 
male and hermaphrodite florets, included in one com- 
mon fcaly empalement of afllvery colour. The florets 
are fucceeded by oblong feeds crowned with hairs. 
The petals of thefe flowers are dry, fo if they are ga- 
thered perfectly dry, and kept from the air, they will 
retain their beauty a long time ; they flower in July, 
Auguft, and September, and the feeds ripen in au- 
tumn. 
The fecond fort grows naturally in Italy. The ftalks 
of this do not rife much more than a foot high, and 
do not branch fo much as the former. The leaves 
are narrower, and the whole plant very hoary. The 
flowers are not half fo large as thofe of the former, 
and the feales of their empalements are very neat 
and filvery. This flowers at the fame time as the 
former. 
The third fort grows naturally in the Levant ; this 
riles about the fame height as the firft fort. The 
leaves' are narrower, and are placed clofer on the 
. ftalks 
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