japonica maxima, and they are spoken 
of as bearing large flowers, white, 
yellow, blush, purple, and crimson in 
colour. They were rechristened, and 
as by far the greater number showed 
yellow blossoms, the name chrysan¬ 
themum was given, “golden flower” 
from the Greek words cbtysos, gold, 
and anthos, flower. 
Breynuis, a famous old botanist, 
tells how these flowers were brought 
from Japan to Holland in 1689, and 
how skilful and patient men worked 
over them for many years, changing 
them from their single form to double, 
button, pompon, and other varieties. 
Reede, an English gardener, writes 
about having some as early as 1699, and 
Linnaeus mentions them in 17 !> 3 , by 
which time they were no longer scarce. 
Who would imagine that the huge, 
thousand-leaved ball, which is the 
present form of the flower, belongs to 
165 
