CHRYSANTHEMUM. 



107 



CHRYSANTHEMUM. 



heat, because such a building admits of free 

 entrance of light, which the semi-opacity 

 of awning will, to a certain extent, prevent. 

 November, indeed, when the chrysanthe- 

 mum is in full bloom, is pre-eminently the 

 month when a conservatory is most needed. 

 When utter desolation reigns without, there 

 is the more need for a good display of 

 llowers within. This is comparatively easy 

 with the aid of chrysanthemums, which 

 alone make a brilliant display. November, 

 as it has been said, is the reigning season 

 of this beautiful flower, which has been 

 brought to us from China and Japan. If 



and Anemone Pompons. The distinction 

 between each class is easily recognised. 

 The Japanese variety (A) is marked by its 

 irregularity. The flower forms almost a 

 ball, or at all events a semi ball, and its 

 petals are tossed wildly about in every 

 direction in charming disarray, which 

 offers a remarkable contrast to the neat- 

 ness and regularity of arrangement of 

 petals conspicuous in the other varie- 

 ties. Reflexcd chrysanthemums are those 

 whose petals are bent back and turn down- 

 wards towards the flower stalks. In the 

 Incurved varieties (B) the arrangement of 



TYPES OK CHRYSANTHEMUMS. A. JAPANESE. B. INCURVED. C. POMPON 



not so refined as some, it is the most strik- 

 ingly effective of all ; even camellias pale 

 their beauty in their presence. Moreover, 

 its cheapness, readiness of increase, and 

 simplicity of culture, bring it within reach 

 of the poorest, and for these reasons it is, 

 and ought to be, sought after here as 

 eagerly as in Japan, where, like the rose in 

 England, the thistle in Scotland, and the 

 shamrock in Ireland, it is regarded as being 

 the national flower and the national em- 

 blem. 



Classification, crV. Speaking broadly, 

 chrysanthemums are classified as Japanese, 

 Reflexed, Incurved, Pompons, Anemones, 



, the petals is just the reverse, the petals 

 | turning upwards and away from the flower 

 stalk, and curving inwards, so that the 

 flower, in many cases, assumes the form 

 of a ball, composed of imbricated petalSj 

 or petals so disposed as to lap over one 

 another like tiles on a roof. Pompons (c) are 

 varieties that do not attain the height of 

 the tall large-flowering chrysanthemums, 

 and whose blooms are smaller, say about 

 the size of a half-crown, or not larger than 

 a crown piece. When the term Hybrid 

 Pompon is used, it is taken to denote 

 varieties which are not small enough to be 

 ranked among the true Pompons and not 



