COMPOSITE FAMILY 



as the name implies, many are seedlings of the Show Dahlia. In 

 this group are placed the new and hybrid forms, many of them 

 fluffy and touselled. 



The single Dahlias in cultivation differ considerably from the 

 wild type. In the primitive form the rays are slender, pointed, and 

 far enough apart to give a star shape to the blossom. The pre- 

 ferred garden form has broader and rounder rays with the spaces 

 between closed; but apart from these differences it well represents 

 the primitive flower as it blooms on the mountain-side in Mexico. 



PYRETHRUM 



Chrysdnthemum coccinium. Pyrethrum roseum. 



The well-known perennial Pyrethrum cultivated in many varieties 

 and often forced for spring flowers. Native of Persia. May, June. 



Stem. — Erect, one to three feet high, branching, smooth. 



Leaves. — Pinnately cut, the lower leaves petioled, the upper sessile. 



Flower-heads. — Radiate, terminal, solitary; rays fertile, of various 

 colors, but chiefly shades of red. 



Involttcre. — Of many close-pressed bracts imbricated in several series, 

 the outer shorter. 



Receptacle. — Flat, without chaff. 



Akenes. — Ribbed; pappus none. 



Pyrethrum in garden literature and language almost always 

 means Pyrethrum roseum, a handsome, summer-blooming, peren- 

 nial composite with erect stems and finely dissected foliage. The 

 flowers run the range of red to white through pink, carmine, rose, 

 crimson, and Ulac. They look like red ox-eye daisies and vary 

 from a single row of rays to double forms like those of asters and 

 chrysanthemums. 



The type originated in the mountainous regions of Persia and 

 along the flanks of the Caucasus; has been long in cultivation; 

 is of exceedingly variable nature and docile in the hands of the 

 gardeners, as more than six hundred named varieties have been 

 developed. 



470 



