180 GARDEN FLOWERS. 



star- shaped flowers are by botanists placed 

 under the general name of chrysanthemum, 

 but our -winter flower is the Chinese chrysan- 

 themum, (C/!r?/Sff?z</ie??ii<??i Sinense) which, how- 

 ever, most modern botanists term pyrethrum. 

 The most aromatic of all the species is the old- 

 fashioned small red kind, which was the first 

 cultivated in the gardens of this country ; but 

 this has little beauty compared Avith those of 

 modern introduction, the flowers of which are 

 very large, and have an odour like honey. The 

 chrysanthemum is brought to great perfection 

 in the Chinese garden ; and figures there in 

 every variety of garden pot, from the elegant 

 vase, to the uncouth little round pot which we 

 often see figured on their paintings ; while the 

 poet of China sings the praise of the chrysan- 

 themum, as the minstrel of Persia tells the 

 delights of the rose. The Japanese value the 

 flower equally with the Chinese, and it is a 

 favourite ornament of their saloons and gai'dens. 

 In the year 1795, the chrysanthemum was 

 brought into the English garden, though it 

 appears to have been cultivated here at an 

 earlier period , but to have been lost. Receiving 

 it from a warm region, our cultivators naturally 

 thought that it would require great care in our 

 colder climate, and it was long deemed unfit for 

 the open air. Now every garden sends forth 

 its sweet fragrance, at a time when it is almost 

 the only fragrant flower of the border. The 

 Chinese are said to cultivate more than fifty 

 varieties of this plant, for each of which they 



