Stellera
(named in honour of G. W. Steller, 1709-1746, a celebrated Russian botanical collector). ORD. Thymelaeaceae. A small genus (eight species have been described, but not more than six are really distinct as such) of hardy, perennial herbs, sub-shrubs, or shrubs, natives of Central and Western Asia. Flowers hermaphrodite, sessile at the tips of the branches, capitate or densely spicate; perianth tube cylindrical, at length cut round above the ovary; lobes four, rarely five, spreading; stamens eight, rarely ten. Leaves alternate, flat. It is doubtful whether the under-mentioned species are still cultivated. Both are perennial herbs, thriving in ordinary soil; they may be multiplied by divisions.
S. altaica (Altaian). fl. white; lobes four; stamens eight; head ovoid, ten to fifteen-flowered, at length elongated into an oblong, leafless spike, about 1in. long. July. l. lanceolate or oblong, slightly acute, about 1in. long. Stems slender, many from the rhizome, erect or ascending. h. 1ft. Altai, 1824. S. Chamaejasme (ground Jessamine). fl. white; lobes five; stamens ten; head six to fifteen-flowered. June. l. lanceolate or oblong, slightly acute, five to ten lines long. Stems often numerous from a thick rhizome, slender. h. 1ft. Siberia, 1817.