Missouri Botanical 
Garden Bulletin 
Vol. IIT | St. Louis, Mo., October, 1915 No. 10 
THE EVOLUTION OF THE CULTIVATED 
CHRYSANTHEMUM 
The eral Moin grhareg at the Garden this year will be 
shown in the new floral display house which has just been 
completed and, for the special purposes designed, is probably 
the finest in the country, if not in the world. The exhibi- 
tion will be particularly noteworthy, comprising 3,000 plants 
of 500 varieties, among which are the following new 
specimens: 
Bob Pulling (yellow) Mankator (amaranth) 
Calumet (bronze) Marigold (yellow) 
Crystal Gem (large early white) Modello (orange) 
Earl Kitchener (amaranth, silvery Mrs. H. J. Jones (“green chrysan- 
reverse ) themum’’) 
Garnet Gem (early bright red) Mrs. R. C. Pulling (yellow) 
Golden Queen (early yellow) Mrs. T. P. Mitchel (white) 
Illona (lavender pompon) Rodi (purplish rose pompon) 
Kewanee (buckskin or chamois) Silver King (white) 
Kewanee (yellow) 
The development of the cultivated chrysanthemum fur- 
nishes a most remarkable example of the ee gpa f and per- 
severance of the plant hybridist. Although a 16- ed 
chrysanthemum is the emblem of Japan and this flower is 
called the “flower of Japan,” all evidence goes to show that 
the chrysanthemum is indigenous to China. Later it was im- 
ported to Japan, where it achieved a success far exceeding 
that in its native country. According to Chinese history, 
the chrysanthemum was cultivated in China over 2,000 years 
ago. nfucius, who supposedly lived 500 B. C., mentions 
the flower under the name, “Li Ki,” and some Chinese pot- 
tery, now preserved in the British Museum, which dates as 
early as 1426-1436, bears an exact replica of one of the 
earlier forms of the chrysanthemum. Previous to the im- 
portation of the chrysanthemum into Europe, the Chinese 
were known to graft certain kinds and cultivate specimens 
similar to the single-stemmed varieties of the present day. 
They even adopted a style of nomenclature, which bears 
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