X E R 
X E R 
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plant is covered with a very thick nap, whence its trivial 
name. A variety differs .only in having the calyx-scales 
brownish at the tip.—All the species that follow, except the 
11th, 17th, and 27th, are natives of the Cape of Good Hope. 
5. Xeranthemum spirale, or spiral-leaved xeranthemum. 
—Shrubby, erect; leaves sessile, lanceolate, tomentose, 
keeled beneath and spirally imbricate; branches one-flow¬ 
ered. 
6. Xeranthemum speciosissimum, or showy xeranthemum. 
—Shrubby, erect; leaves sessile, lanceolate-obovate, acute, 
three-nerved, woolly-tomentose; branches one-flowered. 
7. Xeranthemum fulgidum, or great yellow-flowered xe¬ 
ranthemum.—Suffruticose, erect; leaves embracing, ovate- 
lanceolate, pubescent beneath, tomentose at the edge; 
branches subtriflorous. 
8. Xeranthemum proliferum.—Shrubby, branched, dif¬ 
fused, proliferous; leaves roundish-ovate, smooth, convex, 
closely imbricate; flowers sessile. 
9. Xeranthemum imbricatum.—Shrubby, branched; leaves 
oblong-lanceolate, silky, imbricate; branches one-flowered; 
peduncles scaly. 
10. Xeranthemum canescens.—Shrubby, erect; leaves ob¬ 
long, obtuse, imbricate; branches one-flowered; calyx- 
scales ovate. 
11. Xeranthemumbellidioides.—Herbaceous; leaves ovate, 
embracing, snowy-tomentose beneath; branches one-flow¬ 
ered ; peduncles naked.—Native of New Zealand. 
III.—Receptacle naked. Dovra feathered. 
12. Xeranthemum argenteum.—Shrubby, erect; leaves 
oblong, silky, recurved. 
13. Xeranthemum recurvatum.—Shrubby, erect; leaves 
lanceolate, tomentose, ciliate, recurved; branches one- 
flowered. 
14. Xeranthemum retortum, or trailing xeranthemum.— 
Shrubby, branched, decumbent; leaves lanceolate, silky, 
somewhat recurved; branchlets one-flowered; peduncles 
scaly. 
15. Xeranthemum stoloniferum.—Herbaceous, creeping; 
leaves lanceolate, silky, recurved-spreading; branches one- 
flowered. 
16. Xeranthemum radicans.—Herbaceous, creeping; leaves 
ovate, obtuse, silky, reflexed. 
17. Xeranthemum frigidum.—Herbaceous, branched, pro¬ 
cumbent; leaves imbricate, in four rows, oblong, blunt, 
hoary; branches one-flowered; flowers sessile.—Found in 
the highest parts of Mount Libanus; also in Corsica. 
18. Xeranthemum spinosum.—Shrubby, erect; leaves 
lanceolate, obtuse, tomentose; branchlets one-flowered; 
calyx-scales mucronate-spiny. 
19. Xeranthemum sesamoides.—Shrubby, erect; leaves 
acerose, linear, keeled, smooth, pressed close; branches one- 
flowered ; flowers sessile. 
20. Xeranthemum fasciculatum.—Shrubby, erect; leaves 
acerose, linear, subcylindrical, tomentose above; lower 
spreading; upper pressed close; branches one-flowered; pe¬ 
duncles scaly. 
21. Xeranthemum virgatum.—Shrubby, erect; leaves lan¬ 
ceolate, tomentose, remote, spreading; branches one-flow¬ 
ered ; flowers peduncled. 
22. Xeranthemum striatum.—Leaves linear, nerved, vil¬ 
lose ; stem erect. 
23. Xeranthemum lancifolium.—Leaves lanceolate, acute, 
silvery; peduncles scaly. 
24. Xeranthemum Stahelina.—Shrubby, erect; leaves 
oblong-lanceolate, attenuated at the base, silky; peduncles 
naked, one-flowered, terminating. 
25. Xeranthemum variegatum.—Shrubby, erect,branched; 
leaves oblong, tomentose, imbricate; branches one-flowered; 
flowers nodding. 
26. Xeranthemum paniculatum.—Shrubby, erect; leaves 
linear-lanceolate,jilky; corymb simple, terminating. 
27. Xeranthemum Chinense.—Stem herbaceous, quite 
simple; leaves lanceolate, serrate.—Native of China, about 
Canton. 
Propagation and Culture. —The first three species are 
propagated by seeds. The other sorts, being mostly shrubby, 
and not ripening their seeds in England, are propagated by 
cuttings, planted on a bed of light earth, during any of the 
summer months, and shaded from the sun. 
XERES, a town of the Caraccas, now reduced to a miser¬ 
able village, 15 leagues south of Valencia. 
XERES, a town of Mexico, in the intendancy of Zacate¬ 
cas. It formerly carried on an extensive commerce. Its pof 
pulation now' consists almost entirely of people of colour; 
47 leagues north of Guadalaxara, and 25 miles south of Za¬ 
catecas. Lat. 22. 40. N. 
XERES DE BAJADOS, or Xeres de los Cabaleros, 
a considerable inland town of the south-west of Spain, in 
Estremadura, on the small river Ardilla. It contains 8700 
inhabitants, has manufactures of linen and leather, and in 
the environs very extensive pastures, it being reckoned, that 
at least 50,000 head of cattle reared in this neighbourhood, 
are disposed of at the annual fairs, and sent to the surround¬ 
ing towns. It is situated 90 miles north-north-west of Seville, 
and 34 south of Badajoz ; but being remote from the coast, 
and from any great road, is rarely visited by travellers. 
XERES DE LA FRONTERA, a large and ancient town 
in the south-west of Spain, in Andalusia; 16 miles north- 
north-east of Cadiz. It is agreeably situated on the banks of 
the small river Guadalette, in the midst of one of the richest 
and best cultivated districts of Spain. The entrance into the 
town from Cadiz, is striking, and passes by the end of a plea¬ 
sant and well shaded public walk. The interior is better 
than that of most Spanish towns : the streets are wider than 
those of Cadiz, are well lighted, clean, and neatly paved, 
and some of the houses are splendid. The town is sur¬ 
rounded with a wall, contains a large square, and has a very 
neat council-house. Here are four churches of considerable 
size, but none are so remarkable as the convent of the Car¬ 
thusians, a magnificent building, 2 miles from Xeres contain¬ 
ing a number of beautiful paintings. 
Xeres is a place of great antiquity ; it is supposed to be 
built on the site of the ancient Asta Regia ; and the old and 
new towns are separated by a wall of Roman erection, still 
in good preservation, and of such thickness, that the mer¬ 
chants have excavated cellars in it for their wines. It was on 
a plain adjoining to this town that was fought, in 711, the 
famous battle between the Moors and the Goths, in which 
the latter were completely defeated, their king, Roderick, 
slain, and their empire overturned. 
The population of Xeres is between 20,000 and 30,000. 
The pueblo or district belonging to the town, is of the size of 
one of our Welsh counties (45 miles in length and 18 in 
breadth), but so thinly peopled as not to contain 5000 inha¬ 
bitants. The chief trade of the town is in wine, the growers 
of which are, as in other parts of Spain, so destitute of capi¬ 
tal, as to be enabled to raise their annual produce only by 
advances from the merchants. The climate, however, is very 
good ; and this is the country of the wine known under the 
name of Sherry, a corruption of Xeres. There are also some 
sweet wines produced in this neighbourhood, of which the 
best known is the vino tinto, or tent wine. 
XERES DE LA FRONTERA, a village of Paraguay, 
once flourishing, but now in ruins. It was situated between 
the Paraguay and Parana. 
XERICA, or Zerica, a walled town of the east of Spain, 
in Valencia; 81 miles west-north-west of Segorbe. Popu¬ 
lation 2300. 
XERO'PHAGY, s. [xerophagie, French; from the Gr. 
fvjpo?, dry, and cpaya, to eat.'] Dry food; subsistence on 
dry victuals.—Practising new and extraordinary fasts, as three 
Lents, and two weeks of xerophagy , in which they eat no¬ 
thing but dry things. Christian. 
XERTE, a small town of the north of Spain, in the pro¬ 
vince of Leon. 
XERTIGNY, a village of France, department of the 
Vosges, on the river Amercy. Population 2600. 
XERXES, was the son of Darius I. by Atossa, the daugh¬ 
ter 
