This genus includes the globe amaranth, a common everlasting flower of easy culture. It is also known as bachelor's button, though two other utterly distinct plants (Centaurea cyanus and Ranunculus acris) have the same popular name. The flower-heads are an inch or less in diameter, globose, of many colors, and chiefly remarkable for the showy bracts, which hide the true flowers. In a family remarkable for brilliant foliage this genus seems to be the only one valued for everlastings. Nearly all the other everlasting flowers of importance belong to the Composite. | This genus includes the globe amaranth, a common everlasting flower of easy culture. It is also known as bachelor's button, though two other utterly distinct plants (Centaurea cyanus and Ranunculus acris) have the same popular name. The flower-heads are an inch or less in diameter, globose, of many colors, and chiefly remarkable for the showy bracts, which hide the true flowers. In a family remarkable for brilliant foliage this genus seems to be the only one valued for everlastings. Nearly all the other everlasting flowers of importance belong to the Composite. |