Acanthus

“ Among the ancients, it was a favourite, and they adorned their furniture, vases, and costly dresses, with its elegant leaves. When any obstacle obstructs the growth of the Acanthus, it puts forth fresh force and grows with additional vigour. Thus genius is strengthened by the difficulties which it cannot overcome. Callimachus, an ancient architect, derived the idea of the Corinthian capital, from seeing the leaves of an Acanthus surrounding a basket which had been set upon the ground, and impeded the regular growth of the plant. ”

“ The arabesques of the Vatican, and the Italian cinque-cento ware, afford the best examples of this painted foliage. The acanthus was the parent of nearly all the subsequent styles of decorative foliage down to the Saracenic and late Romanesque, and its modifications have shown the difficulty of improving on the Classic type. We are advised by ornamentalists and writers on art to seek for a new leaf that might in time rival the acanthus in ornament. The advice may be good, and many have given their attention to it, but no lasting results have as yet been obtained. ”

“ Acanthus.—A plant, indigenous to middle Europe, the leaf of which has served in all ages as an ornament, or for ornamentation. There are two varieties, one wild and thorny, and one with soft branches without spines. The acanthus appears for the first time in the arts in ancient Greece. ”

“ At the same time it gave out a most sickening and pungent odour, resembling that of a rattlesnake when teased. The smell so filled the house, that it was necessary to open all the doors and windows, and it was a full hour before the plant calmed down and folded its leaves in peace.
ACANTHUS.—The Acanthus was a favourite plant amongst both the Greeks and Romans, who employed it for decorative purposes: its leaves form the principal adornment of the Corinthian capital, which was invented by Callimachus. How the idea was suggested to the architect is told us by Vitruvius. ”

“ Few plants, not free of growth and hardy in the British Islands without any attention after planting, are included here:—
Bear’s Breech, Acanthus.—Vigorous perennials with noble foliage, mostly from Southern Europe. Long cast out of gardens, they are now beginning to receive more of the attention they deserve. In no position will they look better than carelessly planted here and there on the margin of a shrubbery or thicket, where the leaves of the Acanthus contrast well with those of the ordinary shrubs or herbaceous [121] vegetation. ”

“ Evidently our architects are not bound by allegiance to any one style or kind of beauty, but are ready to find subjects for admiration in buildings of the most diverse character, and to recognize beauty alike in pointed and round arches, in domes and in spires, in acanthus leaves and crockets, in new buildings and in old. ”

“ And the reason is not far to seek.
"A thing of beauty ... will never
Pass into nothingness."
I recently saw a picture of a Corinthian column of a ruined Greek temple standing against the sky, and broken fragments of its fellows lying at its foot, with wild vines climbing over them. And who could say that one was more beautiful than the other? The carved acanthus leaves upon the column were beautiful because of their symmetry, harmony of light and shade and clear-cut outline, but the wild grape was perhaps more beautiful still in its natural freedom. ”

“ The pomegranate occurs only on the Cyrenaic cups (Fig. 93) , where it forms a continuous frieze of buds round the exterior, united by interlacing lines. The acanthus is only introduced quite late (except where it appears as an ornament on the top of a stele) , and is found on the necks of kraters and other large Apulian vases, forming a rich and luxuriant mass of foliage, often with a flower in the centre, on which rests a female head. ”

“ Never at any time does it require the least attention; it will stand any exposure; and is, in a word, invaluable as a hardy ornamental plant. It will thrive best in good and deep soil. South of Europe.
*Acanthus spinosus.—This species appears to flower well more regularly than any other. Its leaves are rather narrow, and very deeply divided into almost triangular segments: they are also covered with short spines. The flowering-stems are about 3 ft. high, and bear dense spikes of purplish flowers. ”

“ This rise was chiefly or exclusively due to the straightening of the blade, and not to the movement of the petiole. We may therefore conclude that the leaves of Acanthus circumnutate periodically, falling in the morning and rising in the afternoon and night.
(24.) Cannabis sativa (Cannabineae, Fam. 195) .—We have here the rare case of leaves moving downwards in the evening, but not to a sufficient degree to be called sleep. [12] In the early morning, or in the latter part of the night, they move upwards. ”

“ The leaf colors are, however, purplish, rose and pink, hues that do not occur in the Crotons. These plants vary greatly among themselves, some having leaves that are mottled in green and white, others with colors that range through the pinkish purples to dark maroon. There is a tendency for the young leaves to have the brightest colors and to turn green as they grow older. The leaves are opposite, strongly veined and rather unevenly margined. The plant belongs to the Acanthus family, and is a native of the South Sea islands. ”

“ ACANTHOSTACHYUM (from akanthos, a spine, and stachys, a spike) . ORD. Bromeliaceæ. A monotypic genus of stove evergreen herbaceous plants; of easy culture in a compost of equal parts sand, decayed wood, and rotten leaves. Propagated by suckers, which strike readily in bottom heat.
A. strobilacea (cone-fruited) . fl. red and yellow; scape simple, long, scurfy; bracts coloured. June. l. radical, very long, incurved, narrow, thick, pungent, channelled, spiny-toothed, covered with white scurf. h. 4ft. Brazil, 1840.
ACANTHUS (from akanthos, a spine; several species being spiny or prickly) . ”

“ Stem very short, almost below the surface of the ground, with long erect peduncles Cancer-root, Orobanche uniflora.
[Pg 107] ACANTHACEAE, the Acanthus Family
Herbs with opposite simple leaves; corolla of united petals, 2-lipped or almost regular; stamens 2 or 4, attached to the corolla; ovary 2-celled.
1a. Corolla about 10 mm. long; flowers in dense heads (4-10 dm. high; flowers blue or white, summer) Water Willow, Dianthera americana. 1b. Corolla about 30 mm. long; flowers axillary (3-8 dm. high; flowers blue, in summer) (Ruellia) — 2. 2a. ”

“ The Oligocene genus Acanthoderma is closely allied to Balistes.
The "File-Fishes" or "Trigger-Fishes" (Balistes) , the largest species of which grow to nearly 3 feet, have a powerful dentition, which enables them to break off pieces of corals, on which they feed, and to bore holes in the hard shells of Mollusca in order to extract the soft parts; they are themselves well protected by a mail of hard, rhomboidal scales. The herbivorous Monacanthus is less favoured in this respect, the rough scales being so small as to give the skin a velvety appearance. ”

“ The last-mentioned fish has two or three spines on its operculum.
Fig. 113.—Serranus ouatabili. (After Savtschenko.)
The same may be said of certain Squamipinnes, another family of Acanthopterygii, whose stout bodies are brightly coloured, and have very sharp, spiny rays in their dorsal and anal fins. The 305 most curious genus among the fishes belonging to this family is Holacanthus, in which the præoperculum is provided with an enormous spine like that of the Weever. Holocanthus imperator (fig. 114) is met with fairly often in the Indian Ocean and Malay Archipelago. ”

“ Weeds, broad–leaved Sea Lavender, and other vigorous kinds, the Globe Thistles, Acanthuses, the free–flowering Yuccas, such as Y. flaccida and Y. filamentosa, the common Artichoke, with its noble flowers; and in autumn, a host of the Golden Rods and Michaelmas Daisies. These are so common in America that adding them to the wild garden would probably be considered a needless labour; but the substitution of the various really beautiful species of aster for those commonly found and of inferior beauty would well repay. ”

“ Why do we always put ferns in the shade, when many of the best and hardiest kinds grow freely in the full sun if sufficiently moist at the root? Why do we always confine them to the fernery proper, when there are so many other places that could be graced by their presence? The very highest beauty of form might be added to beds of low flowers, by the introduction of such ferns as the Struthiopteris, Pteris, Lastrea, etc., while they should also be freely planted in various parts of the pleasure-ground, either alone, or grouped with the Acanthuses and other hardy fine-leaved plants. ”

“ In the great majority of the Acantharia (all Acanthonida and Acanthophracta) twenty radial spines are constantly present, which, disposed according to a definite geometrical law, make up the skeleton (compare § 110 above and p. 717) . The twenty spines are generally simply apposed to each other in the centre (either by the surfaces or the edges of their pyramidal base) ; more rarely they are completely united and form a single star-like piece of acanthin (Astrolithium) . ”

“ Differentiation of the Acanthonida.—The order Acanthonida, which embraces all Icosacantha which have no complete lattice-shell, divides early into three main branches, the three families Astrolonchida, Quadrilonchida, and Amphilonchida (p. 727, Pls. 130-132) . The first of these constitutes the common stem-group from which the other two as well as the whole group Acanthophracta have been developed; the common stem-form of all is Acanthometron (§ 173) . ”

“ Nevertheless the small group of Actinelida is very important, being probably the ancestral group from which all other Acantharia have been phylogenetically derived. These other Acantharia, with twenty regularly disposed radial spines, represent the two large groups of Acanthonida and Acanthophracta. For short and clear distinction of these two groups of Acantharia, we will call the Actinelida (with irregular number and disposition of radial spines) Adelacantha, in opposition to the Icosacantha (Acanthonida and Acanthophracta) , which all possess twenty regularly disposed radial spines. ”

“ More rarely a basal leaf-cross is developed above the basal pyramid. Very rarely the central bases of the united spines grow together in the centre, so that the whole skeleton forms a single piece of acanthin.
The Central Capsule is rarely spherical, commonly prolonged in the direction of the hydrotomical axis; ellipsoidal or cylindrical, sometimes also four-sided prismatic; it commonly envelops the greater part of the two principal spines; its structure and contents are the same as in the other Acanthonida. ”

“ Definition.—Acantharia with twenty radial spines of very unequal size, disposed according to the law of the Icosacantha; two opposite equatorial spines (in the longitudinal axis) much larger than the eighteen others. No lattice-shell.
The family Amphilonchida is distinguished from all other Acanthometra by the excessive development of two opposite equatorial spines, which are much larger {782}than the eighteen other spines. In my Monograph (1862, p. 389) I had united all these Acanthonida in a single genus Amphilonche (with ten species) . ”

“ Phylogeny of the Acantharia.—The legion Acantharia or Actipylea is distinguished by its peculiar acanthin skeleton, which develops centrogenously, as well as by the disposition in groups of the pores in its central capsule, and its excentric usually precocious nucleus; it is thus so different from all other Radiolaria as undoubtedly to furnish, phylogenetically considered, an independent stem (§ 7) . This stem is only connected at the root by Actinelius with the primitive form of the Spumellaria, Actissa. ”

“ The flower is deciduous, and is formed of a single leaf, divided into five concave segments, with five lanceolated petals; at the bottom of the calyx is the ovarie, which turns to a fruit the size and shape of a bury pear, and of a red or yellow colour; it abounds in a sweet juice, slightly acrid, but which is much esteemed by the Antiguans in punch or lemonade; from the apex of the fruit grows the seed, in shape like a hare’s kidney, the upper part of the receptacle being the largest. The shell is thick and cellular, and abounds in a dark caustic oil, which blisters the parts it is applied to ”

“ The genus Acanthonia comprises all those Astrolonchida (formerly united with Acanthometron) in which the simple spines either in their whole length or in the greatest part of it are four-edged, with square transverse section. They are sometimes more prismatic (with equal breadth) , at other times more pyramidal (with decreasing breadth towards the distal apex) . If Acanthometron be the common simple ancestral form of the Acanthonida, then the two-edged Zygacantha, and the four-edged Acanthonia may be regarded as two divergent main lines arising from it ”

“ In my Monograph (1862, p. 371) all true Acanthometra were united into a single family, Acanthometrida, with the following definition:—"Skeleton composed of a number of radial spines, piercing the central capsule and united in its centre, without {726}latticed shell." In the majority of them I observed that the skeleton did not consist of silex, but of a very peculiar organic substance, which I called "acanthin." At that time I divided the family Acanthometrida into four subfamilies:— (1) Acanthostaurida, (2) Astrolithida, (3) Litholophida, (4) Acanthochiasmida. ”

“ Shell flattened, of circular plan, rarely becoming spiral.
Fam. 6. Larcoidea. Shell with three unequal axes, elliptical in the plane of any two, more rarely becoming irregular or spiral.
B. Acantharia, Haeck. (Actipylaea, Hertw.) . Skeleton of spicules of acanthin radiating from a centre, and usually twenty disposed on five successive zones of four on alternating meridians, the zones corresponding to equator, tropics and circumpolar circles on the globe; pores of central capsule in scattered groups.
Fam. 1. Actinelida. Spines numerous, more than twenty, irregularly grouped. ”