692 Ilistorij of the Chinese Chrijsanthcmum. 



the same plant, uiulcr tlie name of MatricjM-ia, having been 

 given by Ka,Mnpfer, in 1712, in his account of the plants of 

 Japan, where it is cultivated by the natives in their gardens ; 

 and he describes eight double varieties of the genus, of various 

 colours. It is also mentioned by Breynius, Plukenet, Rheede, 

 and Petiver, Thunberg, in his Flora Japonica, published in 

 1784, mentions it to be growing spontaneously near Nagasaki 

 antl other places in Japan ; and Loureiro describes it, in his 

 Flora of Cochin-China^ as one of the plants of that country. 

 llum})hius, in his very elaborate work on the Plants of Am- 

 hoijna, published in 1750, is more particular in his information 

 respecting this plant than any preceding author : he mentions 

 five varieties of the white, yellow, and red, as being cultivated 

 at Amboyna ; that both the natives and the Dutch plant it in 

 the borders of their gardens, where it does not thrive so well 

 as in pots ; and that, if it remains more than two years in 

 the same spot, it degenerates, becomes less woody, and often 

 perishes. The Chinese, by whom it is held in high estima- 

 tion (as may be observed from its being so frequently found 

 drawn and figured on their porcelain), pay much attention to 

 its culture: they keep it in pots and jars, placing it before the 

 windows of their apartments; and decorate their tables with it 

 at their entertainments ; on which occasions, he that produces 

 the largest flower is considered as conferring the greatest 

 honour on his guests. To effect this, it is kept by them in a 

 dwarfish state ; and, when coming into flower, of the three 

 blossoms which usually terminate each branch, two are 

 pinclied off, by which treatment the remaining flower grows 

 larger. The varieties of this plant, so numerous in the gar- 

 dens of the Chinese, and cultivated by them with so much 

 art and attention, and become thereby objects of so much 

 attraction to the British gardener, were first introduced from 

 France in 1790, having been brought from China to Mar- 

 seilles in 1789. Before 1808, eight new varieties were intro- 

 duced from China by Sir Abraham Hume and Mr. Evans. 

 Between the years 1816 and 1823, seventeen new varieties 

 ■were added to the list ; which has at this time been so much 

 further increased by different importations and cultivators, 

 that there are now upwards of fifty varieties existing in the 

 garden of the Florticultural Society at Cliiswick. The great 

 variety and beauty of these flowers, when cultivated to the 

 perfection of which they are capable, render thewi a superb 

 acquisition to our gardens, and that at a season when our 

 gardens would otherwise have little gaiety to boast of. The 

 facility with which they are cultivated will occasion tlicm to 

 become so common, that our cottage gardens will become as 



