January yth, igo2.] Proceedings. xxi 



Mr. J. Cosmo Melvill, M.A., F.L.S., made the following 

 communication : — 



Notes upon Chrysanthemum sinense, Sabine, and 

 C indicum, L. 



The first mention of the word C/irysani/iemum, as applied to 

 a plant, is to be found in Dioscorides (iv. 88), being there used 

 in connection with XaXKardefzov, probably another species of 

 the same order (Compositae), with brazen or coppery coloured 

 flowers, as opposed to the more pure golden hue of the 

 Xpvaaydefioi'. 



We next find Pliny, (21, 25, 26) applying it, in its Latinised 

 form, to the same group of plants, and it was eventually adopted, 

 with Leucanthemiim, by Tournefort, who divided the species into 

 two series, (rt!)with yellow, and ((^)white rayed florets. Vide Linnaeus 

 '■ Syst. NatJ i. (1735) J Schub. 1307 ; Jussieu, 183 ; Vent. 2,546 ; 

 Gaertn. 990; Murr. p. 773; Thunb. Jap., p. 320, 



Chrysanthemum, as a genus of Compositae, section Anthe- 

 midese, is divided by Bentham and Hooker {Gen. Plant., ii., pp. 

 425, 426) into five more or less natural sections. The section 

 to which C. indicum and C. sinense belong is that of C. 

 Leucanthemum L. and C. PartJieniufn L. Maximowicz retains 

 the name Pyrethrum as a separate genus for the Japanese and 

 Chinese frutescent species. 



The Chrysatiihema (inclusive of Pyrethrum) which occur 

 within the boundaries of the Chinese Empire are, according to 

 Forbes and Hemsley {/ourn. Linn. Soc. (Botany),- xxiii. (1888), 

 pp. 437-439), but six in number. Placed in alphabetical order 

 they run thus : — C. coronarium L., C. indicum L., C. oreastrum 

 Hance, C. segetum L., C. sibiricion Fisch., C. sinense Sabine, 

 with the var. ? vestitum Hemsl. 



Of these the first is the well-known yellow-flowered plant, 

 with finely pinnatisect leaves, native of the South of Europe, often 

 cultivated in gardens, not only in England and Europe, but in 



