Bot. [mod. L. (Tournefort, 1700), f. Gr. ξηρός dry + ἄνθεμον blossom.] A plant of a genus of composites of the Mediterranean region, having flower-heads with dry chaffy bracts of a purplish or whitish color; the genus itself; one kind of the plants commonly called everlasting or immortelle.
1741. Compl. Fam.-Piece, II. iii. 385. Seeds of Jacea’s,… Xeranthemums,… and sweet Sultan.
1751. Hill, Hist. Plants, 574. The longleaved xeranthemum with paleaceous receptacles. It is a native of Germany and France; the flowers retain their beauty many years.
1786. Abercrombie, Gard. Assist., 116. Virginia and English tobacco, Indian corn, xeranthemum, ten-week’s stocks.
