CHINA ASTERS 41 



flowers were shown to many visitors, by whom the seed was 

 eagerly sought for new plantings. 



The asters which were first grown in Europe and America 

 between 1730 and 1740 were very different from those which 

 are now being cultivated. For one thing, they were all single 

 varieties, resembling in general appearance the Ox-eye Daisy. 

 Each flower had a large yellow centre composed of tubular 

 florets, with from two to four rows of ray florets surrounding 

 it. In the seeds sent by CoUinson to Bartram white and 

 purple varieties were included. A red variety is said to have 

 been obtained by Philip Miller, of Chelsea, England, in 1731, 

 and a blue variety was also known about that time. Some 

 twenty years later the same gardener received seeds of double 

 varieties in red, white, and blue colors, and by the end of the 

 eighteenth century flowers with blue and white stripes had 

 appeared and the aster was well started on its way toward 

 the marvellous development which has since taken place. 



These asters are commonly called by two general names — 

 China Asters because they originated in China, and German 

 Asters because the modern development of the plant was 

 largely brought about by German florists. Professor Bailey 

 thinks the first remarkable development was in the produc- 

 tion of the quilled type of flower, in which the central florets 

 were produced into quills. Varieties of this type were popu- 

 lar about the middle of the nineteenth century, and many of 

 them are still grown, under the name of German Quilled 

 Asters. These blossom in hemispherical masses and occur in 

 a great variety of colors. 



The most satisfactory classification of these asters is that 

 suggested by Professor Bailey in the "Cyclopedia of Horti- 

 culture." The flowers are divided into two great groups, 



