292 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
January 5, 1889. 
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♦ _ 
Forms of Chrysanthemums.* 
Knowing the importance of correct ideas as to the 
classification and properties of the several classes of 
Chrysanthemums, it is with much pleasure that I 
comply with the request to give an address on the forms 
of the flowers. But it must be understood that in the 
comparatively short time at my disposal, it is not 
possible to deal with the subject with the fulness its 
importance demands, and all that I can hope to do is 
to briefly touch upon the chief characteristics of the 
several sections. It is only within a comparatively 
recent period that the question of classification has 
occupied the serious attention of cultivators and others 
interested in the Chrysanthemum, and ten years ago 
it was quite common for societies of considerable 
importance to provide classes for “large-flowering 
Chrysanthemums,” and allow exhibitors to stage any 
of the sections in mixture or otherwise in them. With 
the increase in the show and rapid multiplication of 
Japanese varieties there arose a desire for a classification 
of the varieties, and such definitions as would enable 
both exhibitors and judges to at once determine to 
what class any particular variety belonged. In com¬ 
pliance with the request of a secretary of one of the 
societies, I prepared, in the autumn of 1879, a classifi¬ 
cation which, so far as it went, has proved of 
considerable service. This was not the first classification 
nor has it been the last. In 1833 Mr. Hayworth 
prepared a classification of the varieties grown at that 
time in the Chiswick Gardens of the Royal Horticul¬ 
tural Society, and this was published in Loudon's 
Gardeners' Magazine. This arrangement was enlarged 
by the late Mr. John Salter, and given in his work, 
The Chrysanthemum. A month or so after the appear¬ 
ance of my definitions in print, two other writers 
attempted to deal with the question, and at the same 
time appeared anxious to show that they were oblivious 
of what had happened during the forty-three years that 
had elapsed since the publication of Mr. Hayworth’s 
classification, which I would add is of no practical 
value at the present day. In the classification I 
prepared in 1879, I divided the great family into 
seven sections, but the changes that have been brought 
about during the past decade renders some modification 
necessary to adapt it to the requirements of the present 
day. 
I do not propose to discuss the history of the flower 
farther than is necessary to elucidate the evolution it 
has undergone since its introduction to this country 
ninety-eight years since, and I must refer those who may 
be anxious to increase their historical knowledge to the 
excellent Short History of the Chrysanthemum, by 
Mr. Harman Payne, who is unquestionably the best 
authority on historical matters we have. The leading 
classes into which the Chrysanthemums are divided are 
the Incurved, Japanese, Reflexed, Large Anemones, 
Japanese Anemones, Pompons, and Pompon Anemones. 
The Japanese may be sub-divided, as I shall show in 
the course of my remarks. 
The Reflexed Varieties. 
Chronologically the reflexed flowers stand first, for 
it is an undoubted fact that the first large-flowered 
Chrysanthemum introduced to this country in 1790 
belonged to that section. This variety, figured in the 
Botanical Magazvne as the Old Purple, and included by 
Mr. Haywood in his classification under the name of 
the Tasselled Purple, is so similar to that well-known 
variety, Dr. Sharpe, that an attempt has been made to 
show that they are one and the same, but I have no 
doubt whatever as to their being perfectly distinct. 
But if the refiexed have the advantage in age they are 
far behind the incurved and Japanese in importance, 
and the incurved must certainly have precedence. It 
would be a very interesting study to trace the develop¬ 
ment of the incurved flower, but time will not permit 
to do more than deal with broad principles. It must 
not be supposed that the Old Purple is the progenitor 
of the many beautiful incurved flowers we now have, 
or that the process of development to the highest 
degree of perfection known to us extended over a long 
period. On the contrary, there can be little doubt that 
they have descended from the Incurving Lilac, Two 
Coloured Incurved, Superb 'White and similar varie¬ 
ties, which were introduced about 1828. As shown in 
the coloured plates which appear in vols. iv., v. and 
vi. of the first series of the Transactions of the 
Horticultural Society of London, several of the varie¬ 
ties introduced to this country from China about 
* An Address given by Mr. Geo. Gordon at the meeting of the 
Chiswick Gardeners’ Improvement Association, Dec. 21st, 1888. 
the year mentioned had a tendency to incurve. If we 
accept the year mentioned as the date of the intro¬ 
duction of the progenitors of the present race of 
incurved, we can say that the flowers forming the 
section attained to their highest perfection in the com¬ 
paratively short period of twenty-four years, for the 
Queen of England, the finest of all the incurved 
varieties, was introduced in 1847. Whether Empress 
of India or Lord Alcester is preferable to the Queen of 
England does not affect the argument, for they, with 
several others, have descended from that variety as 
sports. 
Properties of the Incurved Section. 
This brings us to the question of properties, 
and I will at once tell you that the incurved flower 
should be perfectly globular, and I would mention 
Empress of India as the most closely approaching per¬ 
fection of form. The flower should he well filled up in 
the centre, and the florets should incurve regularly, and 
be well rounded at the points and free from notches, as 
indentations are disfigurements. We are told that a 
globe is inelegant and meaningless by those who are 
not sufficiently educated to appreciate the graceful 
curves of a perfectly-developed bloom of the variety I 
have mentioned as a type ; but without stopping to 
discuss that point, the more closely your flowers 
approach that form, the greater will be the chance of 
your obtaining a high position in a close competition. 
Solidity is of hardly less importance than a good out¬ 
line, for thinness is at once seen by the trained eye, 
and will not fail to heavily discount the chances of 
the cultivator taking a high place on the prize list. 
Freshness is essential, and the want of this important 
quality frequently places boards of blooms at a disad¬ 
vantage when put upon the exhibition stage, and in 
not a few instances is the cause of much disappoint¬ 
ment. Without freshness it is impossible to have the 
colour at its best, and although many cultivators fail 
to recognise the fact, to stage a bloom in its true colour 
is of the highest importance. It should always be 
remembered that it is no part of the duties of judges to 
determine what the flowers were a fortnight before the 
show, or what they are likely to be a fortnight after¬ 
wards. Their duty, as I understand the case, is to 
determine the merits of the blooms on the day of the 
exhibition, and those who have them at their best on 
that date will be most likely to occupy a foremost 
position. 
Characteristics of Reflexed Flowers. 
As already mentioned, we have had the reflexed 
varieties from the first, and although a period of nearly 
100 years has elapsed since the introduction of the first 
variety, so little has been done in improving them that 
they are the most unsatisfactory class of all. There is 
not, in fact, half a dozen varieties that are even fairly 
good. The several Christines, which have long been in 
cultivation and are the most popular of all, are very 
coarse, and the more recent introductions—such as 
Elise and Cullingfordi, which are so useful for deco¬ 
ration—have so much Japanese blood in them that they 
usually lack the refinement we have a right to look for 
in the section. With reference to the properties of the 
reflexed varieties, I would say that the larger the 
blooms are the better, provided they are free from 
coarseness. They should be circular in outline, form as 
nearly as possible a half globe, and be free from any 
trace of thinness or confusion in the centre. The 
florets should be broad, quite flat on the upper surface, 
free from notches at the tip, and regularly recurved. 
The colour ought to be clear and decisive, and, as in 
the case of the incurved, be at its best when the 
blooms are staged. There is yet much to be learned in 
connection with the reflexed, for large numbers of 
exhibitors, and not a few judges, regard mere size as 
the chief test of their quality, with the result that first- 
class blooms have frequently to play second fiddle to 
others of the coarsest description, which represent the 
liberal use of fertilisers rather than skilful culture. 
The Japanese Types. 
The Japanese varieties afford such a diversity of form 
that it is no easy matter to indicate their chief charac¬ 
teristics. There are three well-marked types—namely, 
the incurved, reflexed, and those with more or less 
twisted florets. A sub-division, under the designation 
of reflexed Japanese, has been created by the Catalogue 
Committee of the National Chrysanthemum Society ; 
but it remains to be seen to what extent it will prove 
useful so far as the exhibitions are concerned. The 
best type of the reflexed group is Elaine, which, as so 
well known, has long, flat, ribbon-like florets, that are 
more or less reflexed, but not with the regularity cha¬ 
racteristic of such varieties as Chevalier Domage and 
Dr. Sharpe. With such a large number of distinct 
forms as is to be found in the Japanese, it is not 
possible to do more than refer to their properties in 
general terms without occupying more time than can 
be spared. One of the chief points of merit is size. 
Small-flowered varieties are exceedingly useful for 
decorating the conservatory and supplying blooms for 
the drawing-room and other indoor apartments ; but 
for exhibition purposes those of large or medium size 
are alone suitable. Large size may therefore be accepted 
as an important property. Fulness and decisiveness of 
colour are properties not less essential than size, for 
flowers that are thin or ineffective in colour fail to do 
an exhibitor much service when placed on an exhibition 
stage. In the reflexed class large size is also desirable, 
but the florets should be flat, somewhat regularly 
arranged, and more or less reflexed ; the colour of these 
also should be clear and decisive. Boule d’Or, Edwin 
Molyneux, Grandiflorum, Belle Paule, Madame C. 
Audiguier, and Avalanche may be mentioned as repre¬ 
senting the finest types of Japanese, and all collections 
should contain a due proportion of varieties of similar 
character, as they carry much more weight than flowers 
so regular in form that it is not easy, in certain stages, 
to determine whether they belong to the Japanese or 
the reflexed classes ; and I hope the quaint and fantas¬ 
tically-formed flowers will ever continue to have a 
proper value attached to them by judges when shown 
in classes, without restriction as to character of bloom, 
as it is most important that the exhibitions should be 
as varied as possible. So much depends upon the 
colour, in the case of the Japs, that blooms should be 
shown in as fresh a condition as possible. Stale blooms 
are so objectionable that to obtain a high position with 
them, when there is any competition, is impossible. 
The Anemones. 
There are three classes with Anemone flowers, and 
these are known as the large Anemones, Japanese 
Anemones, and Pompon Anemones. The most perfect 
type is the large Anemone, but there is plenty of room 
for improvement, as by far the majority fall much 
below the standard. Speaking generally, a large pro¬ 
portion of the exhibitors and many judges would do 
well to make themselves better acquainted with the 
properties of these sections, for much too high a value 
is attached to size, and we frequently see comparatively 
large flowers, with hardly the ghost of a disc, placed 
before blooms a size smaller, but perfect in develop¬ 
ment. Indeed, some of those who regard themselves as 
authorities consider a disc altogether unnecessary in 
the case of the Japanese Anemones. The blooms of 
both the large and the Pompon Anemones should be 
circular in outline ; the ray florets be flat, stout, free 
from indentation at the point, and regularly arranged ; 
and the disc be high in the centre and regular in out¬ 
line, forming, as near as may be, a half globe. In the 
Japanese Anemone, a high, full centre is of prime im¬ 
portance ; the ray florets may be long and drooping, 
much curled, or otherwise irregular, but the fringe 
should be full. A distinctly fantastic character is a 
decided advantage, and I would like to emphasise the 
fact that indifferent quality does not, as some appear to 
suppose, change a large Anemone into a Japanese 
Anemone. To convert the Japanese section into a 
receptacle for the rubbish from the seed bed is a serious 
mistake. 
The Pompons. 
These may be referred to but very briefly, al¬ 
though they constitute a very useful group. If the 
florets incurve, the blooms should be more or less 
globular in form ; but if they reflex, a half globe will 
he preferable. In all cases they should be neat and 
regular in outline, and not exceed 3 ins. in diameter. 
A diameter of 2 ins. would be preferable, and it may be 
said that too much encouragement is given to the pro¬ 
duction of flowers of excessive size. This is done by 
the stipulation that the blooms shall be shown singly, 
or by not prohibiting thinning. In my opinion, 
thinning should not be allowed in the case of Pompons 
grown for exhibition, as when grown naturally, and 
staged in bunches as cut from the plants, they are not 
only more attractive, but they afford visitors a better 
idea of their elegance and beauty than is to be obtained 
from an inspection of flowers staged in triplets and 
grown so out of character as to be barely recognisable. 
-- 
PHLOX DRUMMOND! 
Although this beautiful half-hardy annual has been 
cultivated more or less in this country since 1S35, yet 
its improvement has been effected within comparatively 
recent years. There is every evidence of its growing 
popularity from the splendid beds of it that may now 
