54 FLORA HISTORICA. 



The seeds of this species of Dianthus were 

 first sent from China to Paris by the French mis- 

 sionaries, about the year 1705, but the double 

 varieties of these flowers had not been seen be- 

 fore the year 1719, when they were frequent in 

 some of the Parisian gardens. Aiton notices the 

 introduction of the China Pink in England as 

 early as 1713, but Miller was certainly unac- 

 quainted with it in 1724, as he describes the In- 

 dian Pink as bearing yellow flov/ers only, and he 

 tells us that he takes the description from the 

 written account of Monsieur Liger, and^as that 

 author's work, Le Jardinier, Fleiiriste, et Histo- 

 nographe, was pubhshed in 1703, two years be- 

 fore the seeds had arrived from China, it is clear 

 that the India Pink of Monsieur Liger, was a 

 different plant. 



There is no doubt but what this flower has 

 been greatly improved by the cultivation of Euro- 

 pean gardeners since its first arrival from China. 



The Dianthus Chinensis is generally treated as 

 an annual plant, because when raised from seed 

 it produces flowers, and ripens its seed in the 

 same year, but the plants may be preserved for 

 several years if planted in a dry soil, or in loamy 

 earth mixed with a portion of old lime rubbish, 

 and those that are preserved over the winter pro- 

 duce their flowers both earlier in the season and 



