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H E L 
HELIAN'THJCMUM, /. in botany. See CiSTV?, 
Portulac a. Turner a . 
HELIAN'THUS, f [from Gr. the fun, and 
**0o{, a flower.] The Sun-flower ; in botany, a genus 
of the c|afs fyngenefia, order polygamia fruftranea, na¬ 
tural order of compofitae oppofitifoiiae, (corymbiferae,• 
J U JF‘) The generic characters are—Calyx : common 
imbricate, fomewhat fquarrofe, expanded ; fcales ob 7 
lo.ng, broadifh at the bafe, gaping every where at the 
tips. Corolla: compound radiate; corollets herma¬ 
phrodite, ' very numerous in the difk ; neuter fewer, 
imich. : longer in the ray. Proper: of the hermaphoditesj. 
cylindric, fhorter than the co.mmon calyx, bellying at tire 
bafe, orbicular, deprelfed ; border five-toothed, fharp, 
fpreading ; of the neuter ligular, lanceolate, quite entire, 
very long. Stamina: in the hermaphodites ; filaments 
five, curved, inferted belpw the belly of the corollet, 
the length of the tube; an they as cylindric, tubular. 
Piftillum: in the hermaphodites; germ oblong; tlyle 
filiform, length of the' corollet; ftigina two-parted, re¬ 
flex. Tn the neuter: germ very frrtall; ftyle and ftigma 
npn.e. Peri carp iu m : none; calyx unchanged. S.eeds: 
in the, hermaphrodites'folitary, oblong, blunt, fpiir-cor- 
nered, comprefled at the oppofite angles ; the inner ones 
narrower, crowned with two lanceolate, acute, dqcidti- 
ouschafl's; in the females none. Receptaculum : chaffy, 
large, flat; chaffs lanceolate, acute, two feparating 
each feed, deciduous. —FJfcntial CharaEler. Calyx, im¬ 
bricate, fomewhat fquarrofe ; down two-leaved,; recep¬ 
tacle chaffy, flat. 
Species, i. Helianthus annuus, or annual fun-flower: 
all the leaves cordate, three-nerved ; peduncles thick¬ 
ening; flowers drooping. Root annual. Stem Angle 
or branched^ from five or fix to ten or fourteen feet in 
height, and in hot climates twenty or more ; when vigor, 
qus,, the.fize of a man’s arm. Leaves alternate, a fpan or a 
fpari and a half in length, and almoft as much in breadth, 
rough, ferrate, acuminate, hanging down at the end, on 
oblong petioles. Flowers Angle, (fometimes feveral,) 
nodding, b foot or more in diameter. Gerarde mentions 
one that flowered in his garden, of fixteen inches in 
breadth, and weighing three pounds two ounces. The 
femi-florets or ligulate flofcules in the ray are ufually 
of a fine golden colour, and near an inch in breadth, end¬ 
ing in a point which is commonly bent back. The flo¬ 
rets or tubular flofcules in the ample difk are of a darker 
colour, clofely wedged together, and very numerous. 
The feeds are numerous, (Bauhin mentions 2364 in one 
flower,) black, variegated, or white ; and, when thefe 
Have quitted their cells, the receptacle looks like a ho¬ 
neycomb. The great fize of the w hole compound flower 
recommends it to the fhident for the examination of the 
flofcules, which, in the clafs fyngenefia, are ufually very 
fmali. The whole plant, and particularly the flower, 
exudes a thin, pellucid, odorous, refin, refembling 
Venice turpentine. The feeds are excellent food for 
domeflic poultry. Gerarde obferves, that it was called 
Indian fun-flower, or flower of the fun, corona folis and 
fol Indianus, becaufe it refembles' the radiant beams of the 
fun. As to its turning with the fun,, it is a vulgar er¬ 
ror ; Gerarde fays he could never obferve it; and w e 
have feen four flowers on the’fame Item pointing to the 
four cardinal points. Native of Mexico and Peru ; 
flowering from June to October. See the calyx, corol¬ 
la, and frudlificatio’n, of this flower, in the Botany Plate 
XIII. fig. s to 16. _ ' ' 
2. Helianthus Indicus, or dwarf annual fun-flower : 
all the leaves cordate, three-nerved ; peduncles equal; 
calyxes leafy. This perhaps may only be a variety of 
the foregoing, though csnftant; but the leaves are con¬ 
vex above in the dilk, and of a darker green. The pe¬ 
duncles are lefs thickened at top, or rather of an equal 
thicknefs evpry where, whence the flowers nod lefs. 
We do not know the native country of this, but there 
is little doubt of its, coming from Mexico or Peru. Lin. 
H E L 
naeus fays that it is cultivated in Egypt. It grows only 
from eighteen inches to three feet in height. 
3. Helianthus multiflorus, or perennial fun-flower: 
lower leaves cordate, three-riervea ; upper ones ovate. 
Stems many, upright, from five or fix feet to eight or 
nine in height, branching, the ftem and each branch ter r 
minated by a flower ; the principal one fometimes nine 
or ten inches in diameter, the lateral ones gradually 
fmaller. There is a conftant fucceflion of flowers from 
July to November. It is a native of Virginia, and was 
introduced before 1699, by William Farmar lord Lemfter. 
4. Helianthus tuberofus, or tuberous-rooted fun-flower, 
or Jerufalem artichoke : leaves ovate-cordate, triple- 
nerved. Stems feveral, rough, hairy, ftreaked, from 
ten or twelve to fixteen feet in height, the fize of a 
child’s arm. The feeds never ripen here. Roots creep¬ 
ing, with many tubers cluttered together, thirty, forty, 
or fifty, from one plant, meafuring a peck, or in good 
foils half a bufhel ; they are like the common potatoe, 
red on the putfide, and very irregular in their fhape, 
the fize of a man’s fift at the biggeft. “Mr. John 
Goodyer received, in 1617, two linall roots from Mr. 
Franquevill of London, no bigger than hen’s eggs ; the 
one he’planted, and the other he gave to a friend. His 
bronght him a peck of roots,.wherewith he ftored Hamp- 
fhire.” This note is dated tlie 17th of Odlober 1621 ; 
and John foil obferves that his friend took it presently 
upon the firft arrival into, England. If this were the 
era of the firfi introduction of Jerufalem artichoke, it 
feems furprifing, even allowing for the facility with 
which it is increafed, that fo foon as the year 1629, or 
even earlier, it fhould have becqme fo common in Lon¬ 
don, that even the moil vulgar began to defpife it; 
whereas when firfi received among us, it was, as Par- 
kinfon fays, “ a dainty for a queen.” By the latter ex- 
preflion, one would fuppofe that it had been known here 
in the time of queen Elizabeth. Our anceflors boiled 
them tender, and then, being peeled, ate them diced and 
ftewed with butter, wine, and fpices; thus, fays Parkin- 
fon, they were a difli for a queen, being as pleafant as 
the bottom of an artichoke ; but the too frequent ufe, 
efpecially being fo plentiful and cheap, hath rather bred 
a loathing than a liking of them. They alfo baked them 
in pies, with marrow, dates, ginger, raifins, fack, &c. 
This root probably got into difufe from a notion of its 
flatulent quality. The potatoe feems to be more nutri¬ 
tious and wholefome ; it is not necefiary therefore now 
to enforce the cultivation of Jerufalem artichoke as a 
general article of food, but it certainly makes an agreea¬ 
ble variety at good tables. There is no better reafon 
for its common Englifh name, than that the root, when 
boiled, has the tafle of an artichoke bottom ; Parkinfon 
therefore would have it called potatoes of Canada, becaufe 
the French brought them firfi from Canada into thefe 
parts. Not that Canada is their original country, for 
they are unqueftionably the produce of a hot climate, 
being natives of Brafil. 
3. Helianthus decapetalus, or ten-petalled fun-flower : 
ftem fmooth.at bottom ; leaves lanceolate-cordate, tri¬ 
ple-nerved ; ray of the flower ten-petalled ; peduncles 
fcabrous. This refembles H. multiflorus, or common 
perennial fun-flower, very much ; but it differs in hav¬ 
ing the ftem, which lcarcely attains the height of a man, 
fcabrous’, but fmooth at bottom. Native of Canada. 
6. Helianthus frondofus : calyx fquarrofe, waved, 
leafy; rays eight-petalled ; leaves ovate; ftem fca¬ 
brous at bottom., This is allied to the foregoing fpecies. 
Native of Canada. 
7. Helianthus ftrumofus, or carrot-ropted fun-flower : 
root fufiform. Roots white and flefhy ; Items feveral, 
nine or ten feet high, round, rough, fomewhat hirfute, 
ftreaked, fubdivided into numerous branches. The 
roots are bitterifh, aromatic, and not difagreeable ; they 
are eaten by the Canadians, among whom this plant 
grows wild. It flowers from July to September. 
