COMPOSITE FAMILY 



rounding a cylindrical receptacle covered with tubular florets 

 which are golden, while the chaff takes on the color of the rays. 

 Given this basis it is easy to see what the gardener's ideal has been. 

 The problem was to transform these tubular florets into ray- 

 florets and to cover the long receptacle with rows and rows of rays 

 evenly overl3,pping. This has been done, and a highly bred 

 Zinnia is as regular and formal as a show dahlia. 



The history of the garden Zinnia is well known. The first 

 double form appeared in 1856 in the nursery of M. Grazau, at 

 Bagneres, France, among a number of plants raised from seed 

 received from the West Indies. This was taken by the famous 

 French grower, Vilmorin, further developed, and placed upon the 

 market in i860. Through the sixties Zinnias were greatly in 

 vogue, by 1880 they had lost caste; to-day they occupy the place 

 that justly beloilgs to them, alongside of the French and African 

 marigolds and the China asters, admirable for banks of color. 

 There is a variety which has all its florets tubular, there are also 

 curled and crested forms. All forms are likewise grouped into 

 tall, medium, or dwarf. 



COSMOS 



Cosmos bipinnatus. 



Cosmos, from the Greek word, whose root idea is orderliness, hence 

 an ornament or beautiful thing; finally, and usually, the universe 

 because of its orderliness. 



Stem. — Annual, glabrous, six to ten feet high. 

 Z,«»7;es.— Opposite, bipinnately cut; lobes linear, remote, entire. 

 Flower-heads.— ^a.A\a.te; rays white, pink, or crimson; disk-florets 

 yellow. 



Involucre. — With ovate-lanceolate scales. 

 Receptacle.— Cha.Sy; akenes smooth, with a short beak. 



Among the garden annuals that have recently come into promi- 

 nence Cosmos is one of the most interesting. A Mexican plant, 

 it has not yet quite become accustomed to our short seasons, and 

 although it bears cold bravely, it is sometimes overtaken by the 



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