Plate 143. 
STRIPED JAPANESE CHRYSANTHEMUM. 
On first seeing this Plate, an experienced grower would 
say that we are making a retrograde movement; that all the 
rules of form and substance are set at defiance by these mon¬ 
strous productions of Japan; and would ask of what use their 
introduction to our gardens. On considering the matter, he 
would perhaps be likely to alter his opinion; for in this 
striped flower he would see something quite novel in the class, 
and feel that it was likely, in the skilful hands of some of our 
hybridizers, to make a change in our large-flowering kinds. 
At the Floral Committees of the Royal Horticultural Society 
last autumn several of these Japanese Chrysanthemums were 
exhibited by Mr. Standish, of the Royal Nurseries, Ascot and 
Bagshot, to whom they had been sent home by that indefatig¬ 
able traveller, Mr. R. Fortune. Some were considered as likely 
to be very useful and ornamental, while others were desirable 
either* for bouquets or their curious appearance; and are thus 
noticed in the Proceedings of the Society:—“ Chrysanthemum 
(sinensej laciniatum (page 778, vol. ii.), a very curious Japanese 
variety, shown in a weak state last year, but now much more 
matured. It proves to be an abundant blooming sort, with the 
flower-heads clear white; the florets being slashed down so as 
to appear fringed, and in some stages closely resemble in form 
the blossom-heads of the Sweet Sultan. It received a second- 
class certificate as a plant for decorative purposes, and for cut¬ 
ting.” This award was altered at the meeting on Dec. 9th 
to a first-class certificate. “ Chrysanthemum striatum (page 35, 
vol. iii.), a showy, loose-flowered Japanese variety, remarkable 
for its variable-coloured flower-heads, the florets in some being 
elegantly striped with red on a white ground, in others wholly 
