187 
HISTORY AND CULTURE OF THE CHINESE 
CHRYSANTHEMUM. 
LiNNiEus, in 1753,, first published this plant as a species, with two of its varieties, 
under the name of Chrysanthemum Indicum, in his first edition of the “ Species 
Plantarum;” the same plant, under the name of Matricaria , having been given by 
Kcempfer, in 1712, in his account of the plants of Japan, where it is cultivated by 
the natives in their gardens ; and he describes eight double varieties of the genus, 
of various colours. It is also mentioned by Breynius, Plukenet, Rhsede, and 
Petiver. Thunberg mentions in his Flora Japonica, published in 1784, that it 
grows spontaneously near Nagasaki and other places in Japan ; and Loureiro, in his 
Flora of Cochin-China , mentions it as one of the plants of that country. Rumphius, 
in his very elaborate work on the f£ Plants of Amboyna,” published in 1750, is 
more particular in his information respecting this plant than any preceding author. 
The Chinese, by whom it is held in high estimation, pay much attention to its 
culture : they keep it in pots and jars, placing it before the windows of their 
apartments, and decorate their tables with it at their entertainments ; on which 
occasions he that produces the largest flower is considered as conferring the greatest 
honour on his guests. 
The varieties of this plant were introduced to Britain from France in 1790, 
having been brought from China to Marseilles in 1789. Before 1808, eight new 
varieties were introduced from China by Sir Abraham Hume and Mr. Evans. 
Between the years 1816 and 1823 seventeen new varieties were added to the list ; 
and from subsequent importations and variations from culture there are now more 
than fifty varieties in cultivation*. 
The mode of culture is simple and easy, and may be explained in the following 
rules: — 
1. The soil most suitable for their growth is a light, rich, turfy loam, mixed 
with good rotten dung, sand, and leaf mould, in the proportions of one barrowful of 
the former to one-fourth of a barrowful of each of the latter. 
2. Propagation. This is performed many ways, but there are four or five prin- 
cipal means, namely, by cuttings, suckers, division of the roots, layers, and occa- 
sionally, though but seldom, by seeds. 
S. Cuttings. Take off the cuttings in April, this is preferable to planting them 
in the autumn, which is often practised. They should be taken from the upper 
part of the shoot, and from four to six inches long, according to the sort and 
strength of the shoots. Cut them oif just below a joint, and trim off the leaves 
from that part which it is intended to insert in the soil. 
4. When the cuttings are prepared, plant them in sixty-sized pots, in a soil 
made somewhat lighter than the one mentioned above, by the addition of a little 
more sand and leaf mould. 
* This history is taken from a paper read in June, 1828, before the Vale of Evesham Horticultural 
Society, by the president, E. Rudge, Esq., and noticed some time since in the Gardeners’ Magazine. 
