antenna ria

[Lat. antenna = (1) a sail-yard; (2) one of the two horn-like appendages to the head of an insect. The Antenna ria genus of plants is so called from the resemblance which the hairs of the pappus in the sterile florets bear to the antenna of an insect.] Botany: 1. Everlasting, a genus of plants belonging to the order Asteraceæ, or Composites. The A. dioica, Mountain Everlasting, or Cat's Foot, is indigenous to, and the A. margarita cea , or Pearly Everlasting of North America, naturalised in, Britain. The former, which is abundant on mountain heaths, has cottony stems and white or rose-coloured flowers. The latter, called in France and elsewhere immortelles, are often made on the Continent into wreaths to be laid on the graves of decensed relatives. Here they may be often seen either in their natural hue, or dyed of bright colours, as ornaments in rooms. 2. A fungus of the tribe Physomycetes. The species may be seen hanging from the roof of wine vaults and enveloping the casks and bottles below.