86 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS 



be less embarrassing. That C. indicum and C. sinense 

 have been confounded is probable, for one authority is 

 silent as to the period of introduction of the former, but 

 gives the year for the latter as 1764. Now, other records 

 state that the first specimen of Chinese Chrysanthemum 

 that flowered in this country was a small yellow species 

 which bloomed in the Botanic Garden, Chelsea, in 1764. 

 Surely this was C. indicum. The name was given to it 

 by Linnaeus in his Species Plantarum, first published 

 eleven years before the plant bloomed at Chelsea. It 

 had been described previously by Breynius in his Podro- 

 mus in 1689, but was referred to by him under the name 

 of Matricaria Japonica maxima, or the large Japanese 

 Matricaria. (Matricaria is closely allied to Anthemis, 

 and, as we shall see presently, the unfortunate Chrysan- 

 themum was given yet another name by botanists 

 Anthemis artemisiafolia). Breynius stated that there were 

 several varieties under cultivation in Holland in 1689, 

 and it seems peculiar that the plant should not have 

 flowered in England until seventy-five years later. This 

 fact lends colour to the supposition that there was con- 

 fusion between two different species. 



As 1764 seems to be the first year that we can fasten 

 on safely with respect to the appearance of the Chrysan- 

 themum, we will accept it, and see what happened after- 

 wards. The plant which flowered at Chelsea aroused 

 considerable interest, and a dried specimen was pre- 

 sented to the Royal Society by the Chelsea gardener, 

 the famous Philip Miller. It is now in the British 

 Museum. The plant soon died, and we have no further 

 definite record of Chrysanthemum culture until 1790, 

 when a large-flowered double variety was grown at Kew. 

 It was said to have been procured from a French mer- 

 chant named Blanchard or Blancard, who imported 



