United States or Wallis and Futuna ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
The leaves are not above an inch long, very narrow like Thrift, green on the upper and hoary on the underside, growing in tufts. Whether this plant be a Scabious, Thrift or Helichrysum is hard to judge from the imperfect flower of the dried specimen. Alcea Novae Hollandiae foliis angustis utrinque villosis. The leaves, stalk, and underside of the perianthium of this plant are all woolly.
But their effects are so inconsiderable, that common practice takes no notice of them. MALVA alcea. VERVAIN-MALLOW. The Leaves. Alcea agrees in quality with the Althaea and Malva vulgaris; but appears to be less mucilaginous than either. MATRICARIA Parthenium. COMMON WILD FEVERFEW. The Leaves and Flowers.
The chaffy scales of the calyx in Xeranthemum, and in a species of Dianthus, and the glume in some alpine grasses, and the scales of the ament in the salix rosea, rose willow, grow into leaves; and produce other kinds of monsters. The double flowers become monsters by the multiplication of their petals or nectaries. See note on Alcea. Vernal grass. Two males, two females.
The perianth is not changed in double flowers, hence the genus or family may be often discovered by the calyx, as in Hepatica, Ranunculus, Alcea. In those flowers, which have many petals, the lowest series of the petals remains unchanged in respect to number; hence the natural number of the petals is easily discovered. As in poppies, roses, and Nigella, or devil in a bulb. Phil. Flower de Luce.
Hen and chicken Daisy; in this beautiful monster not only the impletion or doubling of the petals takes place, as described in the note on Alcea; but a numerous circlet of less flowers on peduncles, or footstalks, rise from the sides of the calyx, and surround the proliferous parent. The same occurs in Calendula, marigold; in Heracium, hawk-weed; and in Scabiosa, Scabious. Phil.
Double hollyhock. The double flowers, so much admired by the florists, are termed by the botanist vegetable monsters; in some of these the petals are multiplied three or four times, but without excluding the stamens, hence they produce some seeds, as Campanula and Stramoneum; but in others the petals become so numerous as totally to exclude the stamens, or males; as Caltha, Peonia, and Alcea; these produce no seeds, and are termed eunuchs.
Word Of The Day