18 
THE LADIES’ FLOWER-GARDEN 
4.— CHRYSANTHEMUM SINENSE, Sab. THE CHINESE CHRYSANTHEMUM. 
Synonymes. — Antbemis grandiflora, Ram. ; A. artemisiaefolia, 
Willd. ; A. stipulacea, Mcench. ; Matricaria japoiiica, Brey. ; 
Matricaria indica, Mill. ; Kiko no Fanna, and Kikokf, Thun. ; and 
Kikf or Kikku, Kwmp. 
Enghavings. — liot. Mag, t. 327, 2042, and 2556 ; Bot. Reg. t. 4, 
t. 455, and t. 616 ; Swt. Brit. Flow. Gard. t. 7 and t. 14 ; Hort. 
Trans., vol. iv., pi. 14 ; vol. v., pi. 3 ; and pi. 17* and 17** ; and 
our Jig. 1 to 4, in Plate 53. 
Specific Character. — Stem suffruticose. Leaves petiolate, ovate, 
sinuately pinnati6d, villose, three or five-lobed, mucronately dentate. 
Flowers corymbose. 
Description, &c. — The -well-known flowers called Chinese Chrysanthemums are described in many 
catalogues as greenhouse shrubs, but they are hardy perennials for all practical purposes, and as such 
merit a place in this work. It is true that the stems die down to the ground every autumn, but the 
roots will survive the severest frosts, and young shoots will appear the following spring. The flowers are 
never quite so beautiful in the open air as in a greenhouse ; but any one who has seen the Chrysanthemums 
trained against the houses in the suburbs of London, will allow that they are highly deserving of cultivation. 
Some kinds are much more hardy than others, and will stand the open air much better. 
The first account we have of the Chinese Chrysanthemum occurs in a book on the Plants of Malabar, 
published in 1678 ; but only one species is mentioned, and a very slight account is given of it. We next find the 
Chinese Chrysanthemum described by Koompfer under the name of Matricaria, in his very interesting work on 
the Plants of Japan, published in 1712. Koempfer describes thirteen varieties of the plant, ten of which have 
been introduced from China ; the three which have not reached us are a procumbent plant, with clusters of 
small, very double, cream-coloured flowers ; another a tall plant, with large pale-blue flowers, and the third a 
plant, growing with a round, compact head, like a dwarf box-tree, and very fragrant, golden-yellow flowers. 
Instead of these three, others have been introduced, which are not mentioned by Koempfer. 
In 1753, Linmeus obtained a specimen of the little yellow Chrysanthemum, still called Chrysanthemum 
indicum, the name given to it by Linmeus. This plant was at first supposed to be the parent of all the Chinese 
Chrysanthemums now in our gardens, but it has been since discovered that they belong to quite a diflerent 
species, which Mr. Sabine has called C. sinense. In 1789, the purple Chinese Chrysanthemum, now called the 
Old Purple, was introduced into France, and this is supposed to have been the first Cliinese Chrysanthemum 
that flowered in Europe. It was sent to England in 1 790. It is true that a plant, under tlie name of Matricaria 
iwdica, flowered in the Chelsea Botanic Garden in 1764; but from the description given of it in Miller’s 
Dictionary it appears not to have been a Chrysanthemum. The old white, or changeable white, was a sport 
from the old purple. This white is still common in our gardens, where it is frequently called the Changeable 
Chrysanthemum, from its flowers varying very much in different situations. Where the climate is cold, or the 
situation very open, the florets are generally a pure white ; but where they have less air, the backs of the inner 
florets, and sometimes the whole of the outer florets, are of a pale purple ; occasionally in gardens each floret is 
striped purple and white, and hence the plant is sometimes called the Magpie Clirysanthemum ; and lastly, in a 
south border near the wall, the centre floret is often purple, and the outer florets white. This variety is supposed 
to have originated in 1802, in the garden of the Bishop of London at Fulham. The first quilled Chrysanthemum 
was the early white (see fig. 3, plate 53). The flower is nodding, and looks like a close tassel ; the florets are 
perfectly tubular, and rather long, though of an unequal length. This variety was introduced from China in 
September 1808, and first flowered in the garden of Sir Abraham Hume. The flowers appear early, and when 
