294 BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS 



exhibitions to-day it is, of course, vastly different from the little 

 blossom which first came to us from the East. That which modern 

 florists call the Japanese Chrysanthemum is represented at the 

 shows by a huge flower, nine or ten inches across and as much 

 deep, perfectly double, and a mass of long florets. The colour 

 may be crimson, amaranth, rose, buff, pink, yellow, or white. 

 Chrysanthemum indicum, the forerunner of all this floral glory, 

 was a small single yellow flower, little more than an inch across. 

 If it were placed alongside one of the gorgeous leviathans of 

 the champion cup winner, the contrast would be so great that a 

 common origin would appear to be incredible. The more com- 

 plete the difficulty of associating the two, the greater the tribute 

 to the work of those florists who have developed the large double 

 from the small single with long, devoted, unwearying labour. 



But the modern Japanese Chrysanthemum is only one of a 

 large number of types the most important, certainly, yet still 

 only one. In addition to it we find Incurved, Reflexed, Pom- 

 pon, Anemone-flowered, Pompon-Anemone, Large-Anemone, Single, 

 Thread-petal, and Hairy sections. There are, therefore, ten distinct 

 classes. A further division is made in connection with the flower- 

 ing season ; thus, there are early or summer-blooming Singles, 

 Pompons, and Japanese as well as the normal autumn-flowering 

 types. Truly, the cross-fertiliser has done remarkable work with 

 the Chrysanthemum. 



It is a platitude to say that the Chrysanthemum is to autumn 

 what the Rose is to summer. Neither flower need be considered 

 as the plant of a season. We are only too glad to get Roses in 

 autumn, and we are delighted to get Chrysanthemums garden 

 Chrysanthemums, that is in summer. The Chrysanthemum is a 

 plant of such commanding intrinsic merit and value that it would 

 be extensively grown even if its chief flowering season were July 

 instead of November. It would come into direct rivalry with the 

 wonderful beauty of the Rose, the Carnation, and the Sweet Pea, if 



