90 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS 



growers of Chrysanthemums who bring its development 

 up to the present day. It would be impossible to give a 

 complete chronology of the varieties, as the number pro- 

 bably exceeds three thousand, and records of the parent- 

 age of the great majority of these have never been 

 published. 



The Blue Chrysanthemum. The various raisers have 

 given us a great range of colours in Chrysanthemums, 

 but not a blue. It is interesting to hear that blue Chrys- 

 anthemums appear on the splendid pottery of the 

 Japanese ; and, in view of their usual fidelity, it is claimed 

 that a blue Chrysanthemum must have existed at the 

 time. 



The Japanese cultivated the Chrysanthemum with great 

 ardour. They went, indeed, farther than the Chinese, 

 exhibiting in this, as in so many other things, a more 

 progressive and energetic spirit. They made it their 

 national flower, and in 1876 the Mikado instituted the 

 Order of the Chrysanthemum, consisting of a star in the 

 form of a cross with thirty-two rays. A Chrysanthemum 

 is placed in each of the angles formed by the principal 

 arms. The star is attached to a red ribbon by a gold 

 Chrysanthemum, and this is entirely appropriate, for the 

 Chrysanthemum is the Golden Flower, the name deriv- 

 ing from chrysos, gold ; and anthos, a flower. The deco- 

 ration is not for florists; it is an honour reserved for 

 crowned heads and the highest dignitaries of states ; but 

 the man who introduces a good blue Chrysanthemum 

 will need no order to commend him to posterity. His 

 name will be famous for all time. 



Classification. We may begin our survey of present- 

 day Chrysanthemums by a brief consideration of the 

 various classes. To many growers a Chrysanthemum 

 is a Chrysanthemum, neither more nor less ; but to 



