666 



CARNATION 



CARNATION 



nal, mostly solitary; petals 5, flesh-colored, very broad, 

 beardless, margins toothed; calyx cylindrical, with 

 scaly bracts at base. June-Aug. S. Eu.; occasionally 

 met in the wild state in England, where it was intro. 

 through cult. A single-fld. and undeveloped carnation 

 is shown in Fig. 801. A section of a single fl. is 

 depicted in Fig. 802, showing the 2 styles and the 5 

 stamens; also the bracts at the bottom, in 2 series, 

 beneath the calyx. In Fig. 803 some of the beginnings 

 of doubling are shown. 



General development. (By Geo. C. Butz.) 



Theophrastus, who lived about 300 years B.C., gave 

 the name Dianthus (Greek dios, divine; anthos, flower) 

 to the group, probably sug- 

 gested by the delightful fra- 

 grance. The specific name 

 ^aryophyllus (Greek, caryon, 

 nut; and phyllon, leaf) has 

 been applied to the 

 clove-tree (Caryo- 

 phyllus aromaticus) , 

 and because of the 

 clove-like fragrance 

 of the carnation 

 this name was ap- 

 plied to it. The 

 name carnation (Latin, carnatio, 

 from caro, carnis, flesh) has ref- 

 erence to the flesh-color of the 

 flowers of the original type. This 

 plant has been in cultivation 

 more than 2,000 years, for 

 Theophrastus (History of Plants, 

 translation) says: "The Greeks 

 cultivate roses, gillyflowers, vio- 

 lets, narcissi, and iris," gilly- 

 flower being the old English 

 name for the carnation. It was 

 not, however, until the beginning 

 of the sixteenth century that the 

 development of the carnation 

 into numerous varieties made 

 an impression upon its history. 

 The original flesh-color of its 

 flowers was already broken up 

 into red and white. The garden- 

 ers of Italy, France, Germany, 

 Holland and England, with their 

 respective ideals of beauty in 

 this flower, contributed so many 

 varieties that in 1597 Gerard 

 wrote that "to describe each 

 new variety of carnation were to 

 roll Sisyphus' stone or number 

 the sands." 



There have been many at- 

 tempts at classification, but 

 most of them, like the varieties they serve, have dis- 

 appeared. Two of them are as follows: A French 

 scheme arranges all varieties into three classes: 

 Grenadins (Fig. 801), including those with strong per- 

 fumes, flowers of medium size, either single or double, 

 petals fringed, and of but one color; Flamands, includ- 

 ing those with large flowers, round and double, rising in 

 the center to form a convex surface, petals entire, either 

 unicolored or striped with two or more colors; Fancies, 

 including those with colors arranged in bands on light 

 grounds, the petals toothed or not. The English classi- 

 fication of these varieties makes four categories: Selfs, 

 or those possessing only one color in the petals; Flakes, 

 or those having a pure ground of white or yellow and 

 flaked or striped with one color, as scarlet, purple or 

 rose; Bizarres, or those having a pure ground marked 

 as in the Flakes, but with two or three colors; and 

 Picotees (Fig. 804), or those having a pure ground of 



801. A single-flow- 

 ered Grenadin carna- 

 tion. (XJi) 



802. 



Section of normal 

 carnation flower. 



white or yellow, and each petal bordered with a band 

 of color at the margin. This last class has been regarded 

 with the distinction of a race. 



In the early part of the nineteenth century, English 

 gardeners exercised very great care in the growing of 

 carnations to ma- A^ v n\ .. . ^ * *. ~ 



ture only perfect (\[\' : 

 flowers. Imperfect 

 and superfluous 

 petals were ex- 

 tracted with for- 

 ceps; petals appearing out of 

 place were arranged in a perfect 

 imbrication; the calyx-tube was 

 cut partly down between the 

 teeth, to prevent excessive split- 

 ting at one side and to give 

 more freedom to the expansion 

 of the flower. These and many 

 more tedious details seem to 

 have wrought the depreciation of 

 this flower about the middle of 

 the nineteenth century. 



All the foregoing has reference 

 to those types of carnations that 

 are little known or grown in 

 America at the present day; the 

 varieties so common in Europe 

 are usually kept in coldframes or coolhouses during 

 the winter, and as spring approaches the plants are 

 brought into their blooming quarters, for no flower is 

 expected to appear until the month of July, when there 

 is a great profusion of blossoms, but for a short season. 

 Therefore, they can all be classed as a summer race. 

 They are also grown permanently in the open. 



Development of the perpetual -flowering carnation 

 (Remontant, Monthly, Forcing, or Tree). Figs. 

 805-807. 



The perpetual-flowering race of carnation, which 

 has been brought to its highest state of perfection by 

 American growers, and which is generally regarded as 

 the "American carnation," really originated in France, 

 and was grown in that country from its origin in 1840 

 until about the year 1856, before it was introduced to 

 America. A French gardener, named M. Dalmais, 

 obtained a constant-blooming carnation by crossing 

 (Eillet de Mahon, which bloomed in November, with 

 pollen from (Eillet Biohon, crossing again with the 

 Flemish carnation, the first-named sort being dissemi- 

 nated under the name "Atim." By the year 1846 varie- 

 ties in all colors had been secured and the type per- 

 manently fixed. These were taken up and improved 

 upon in quality by 

 other enthusiasts, 

 among whom were M. 

 Schmidt and M. Al- 

 phonse Alegatiere, of 

 Lyons, France. The 

 latter succeeded in 

 securing varieties with rigid 

 stems which in 1866 were given 

 the name "tree-carnation." M. 

 Schmidt's most prominent varie- 

 ties were Arc-en-ciel and Etoile 

 Polaire, which were grown for 

 several years. But the strong 

 rigid-stemmed varieties obtained 

 by Alegatiere, which were 

 termed tree-carnations in 1866, 

 proved of greater value com- 

 mercially, and became more gen- 

 erally cultivated. About the year 

 1852, a native of France who 

 had settled near New York City, are leafy, showing one 

 imported plants of this strain, process in doubling. 



803. The anthers 



