Santolina
(probably from Santonica, an old name given by Pliny to a kind of Wormwood, found among the Santones, a Gallic tribe). Lavender Cotton. ORD. Compositae. A genus consisting of about eight species of sweet-smelling, mostly hardy sub-shrubs, inhabiting the Mediterranean regions. Flower-heads yellow (or whitish?), mediocre or small, long-pedunculate; involucre ovoid, sub-globose, or scarcely hemispherical; the bracts many-seriate, appressedly imbricated; receptacle slightly convex; florets regular; achenes glabrous, three, four, or rarely five-jointed. Leaves alternate, pectinate, or clustered and pinnatisect. A selection from the species introduced is given below. S. Chamoecyparissus has long been known in gardens. For culture, see Achillea. S. Chamaecyparissus (Chamaecyparis-like). Common Lavender Cotton. fl.-heads resembling those of a Chamomile divested of its white rays, solitary at the ends of the wiry twigs. July. l. small, linear, thickly set on the twigs, furnished with four to six rows of short, obtuse teeth, and, as well as the stems, clothed with hoary pubescence. h. 1ft. to 2ft. South Europe, 1573. S. C. incana (hoary).* A pretty, dwarf-growing plant, useful for divisional lines or edging; its slender, twig-like growths and knotty leaves are densely covered with silvery tomentum.
S. C. squarrosa (squarrose). fl.-heads smaller than peas. l. slightly hoary. Stem erect.
S. C. tomentosa (tomentose). fl.-heads larger than peas; involucre somewhat mealy.
S. rosmarinifolia (Rosemary-leaved). fl.-heads globose or hemispherical; involucral scales highly glabrous, sub-carinate, acute. August. l. linear, slightly acute; lower ones tubercled on the margins; upper ones flat, entire or slightly denticulate at apex. Branches straight, erect, one-headed. h. 2ft. South Europe, 1683. (S. E. B. 62.)