30 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



O-giku, a large flower. As you may see in figs. 1, 2, and 3, the kinds 

 which are commonly known in this country as the "Japanese varieties " 

 are included in this class. 



The blossoms with tubular petals are much prized by the Japanese, 

 according to whose taste the centre of the flowers should distinctly 

 maintain the normal state of its development, so that the stamens are not 

 modified into petals. The petals should be spoon-shaped and their ends 

 turned over towards the centre, making a soft curl ; they should not be 

 so feeble as to show any sign of drooping, while a wire-like stiffness in 



Fig. 1. 



the petals is also undesirable. The flowers, on the whole, should have a 

 shiny appearance and be of large size. What Nicholson, in his " Dictionary 

 of Gardening," calls the variety ' What Ho ' can be likened to the flowers 

 belonging to this class, except that their petals have not the same 

 drooping tendency possessed by the ' What Ho ' variety. This class of 

 blossom can be termed "large tubular-petaled flowers," and they are 

 shown in fig. 1. 



The next are the flat-petaled blossoms. They also include some of 

 the kinds known here as the " Japanese varieties," namely, those shown in 

 figs. 3 and 4. In this class the centre of flowers should be normal and the 



