XERANTHEMUM AN'NUUM. 
ANNUAL XERANTHEMUM. 
Class. Order. 
SYNGENESIA. POLYGAMIA SOPERFLOA. 
Natural Order. 
CORYMB I FERA5. 
Native of 
Height. 
Flowers in 
Duration. 
Cultivated 
S. Europe. 
18 inches. 
July, Aug. 
Annual. 
in 1658. 
No. 114. 
Xeranthemum is deduced from the Greek xeros, 
dry; and anthos, a flower; in reference to its dry 
and durable qualities. These circumstances have 
procured for it the name of Everlasting-, by which it 
is not unusually known. 
When this flower is quickly dried, it retains its 
shining- pink or purple colour; and as it greatly as- 
sists in the formation of a winter bouquet, it is ren- 
dered a desirable object of cultivation. For this 
purpose the flowers should be gathered soon after 
they expand, and the back of every coloured scale 
of the calyx should be drawn, while fresh, over the 
edge of a blunt knife, to keep the flower open after 
it is dried. The beautiful hue which they possess, 
in the shops of seedsmen, is not always the entire 
effort of nature. They are exposed to the vapour of 
an acid ; this heightens the colour of the usual vari- 
ety, which is somewhat tinged with purple, to a bril- 
liant pink hue. 
The finest flowers are generally produced by 
sowing the seeds on a dry border, in the autumn. 
Early spring sowing, in a rich soil, will, however, 
be found perfectly to succeed. 
Hort. Kew. 2, v. 5, 20. 
