Actinotus
(from actinotos, furnished with rays; referring to the involucre). ORD. Umbelliferae. An Australian genus of greenhouse herbaceous perennials. Flowers shortly pedicellate, numerously disposed in simple umbels; petals none. Leaves alternate, petiolate. They thrive best in loam and peat, and are increased by root division and seeds. The latter should be sown on a hotbed, in spring, and in May the seedlings may be transplanted out in the open border in a warm situation, where they will flower and seed freely. A. helianthus (sunflower).* fl. white, in many-flowered capitate umbels; involucre many leaved, radiating, longer than the flowers. June. l. alternate, bipinnatifid; lobules bluntish. h. 2ft. 1821. SYN. Eriocalia major. A. leucocephalus (white-headed). fl. white. June. h. 2ft. 1837.