Spyridium
(from spyris, a basket, and eidos, resemblance; in allusion to the shape of the calyx). ORD. Rhamneae. A genus comprising twenty-five species of greenhouse, Australian shrubs. Flowers sessile in heads or rarely solitary, surrounded by small, brown bracts; calyx five-lobed; petals five, hood-shaped, usually inclosing the anthers; stamens five; heads small, sessile, usually several together in a compound head or in corymbose cymes. Leaves usually small. Only one species has been introduced to gardens. It thrives in a compost of peat and sandy loam. Propagation may be effected by cuttings of the half-ripened shoots, cut to a joint, dried at the base, and inserted in sand, under a glass.
S. globulosum (globulose). fl.-heads nearly globular, numerous, in dense, corymbose cymes in the axils of the leaves, and not much exceeding them. l. ovate, obovate, or oblong, very obtuse, 1in. to 1 1/2in., or rarely 2in., long, glabrous above, white or hoary beneath, or rarely slightly rusty. 1874. A tall shrub. (R. G. 795.)