ZINNIA 



ZINNIA 



Zinnia ilegans. 



Zinnia, in honor of Johann Gottfried Zinn, professor of botany at 

 Gottingen in 1750. 



Hardy annual from Mexico, common in gardens; blooms from mid- 

 summer into late autumn. 



Stems. — Erect, stiff, hairy, one to two feet high. 



Leaves. — Opposite, cordate or elliptic, clasping. 



Flower-heads. — Radiate, terminal; rays reflexed; colors various; 

 disk-florets originally yellow, but transformed in the garden race to rays. 



Involucre. — Ovate, cylindric, or bell-shaped; scales in several series, 

 broad, rounded, more or less colored. 



Receptacle. — Hollow, tubular; chaff takes on the color of rays. 



Akenes. — Two kinds, triangular and heart-shaped; laterally com- 

 pressed, two-toothed at the summit, frequently one-awned from the 

 inner angle. 



Zinnia is a plant of surprises; one's Zinnia bed may be a garden 

 of delights or a record of disappointment; it all depends upon the 

 colors which the blossoms assume. No other flower of cultivation 

 takes on such a surprising number of hues, but there is always an 

 element of chance in what a seed may produce. The flower avoids 

 blue, but revels in reds and yellows, and takes on marvellous lurid 

 and bronze effects. Its scarlets and crimsons are worthy to stand 

 before kings, its pinks and salmons are beautiful, its range of 

 yellow is brilliant, but its whites are dull and opaque; and although 

 the Zinnia is capable of the most clear and vivid colors, it is also 

 capable of muddying every red and dulUng every yellow, to the 

 disappointment of amateurs and the despair of florists. The plant 

 is said to be unfashionable, the truth is the plant is untrustworthy. 

 In addition, the lack of pleasant odor, and a certain harshness of 

 texture and stiffness of carriage limit its popularity. 



The garden form, under neglect, quickly reverts to its first estate; 

 indeed the "rogues," as primitives among highly breds are called, 

 are to be found in most Zinnia beds and should be uprooted. The 

 primitive is a head composed of a single row of broad rays sur- 



493 



