f 352 
THE LADIES' FLORAL CABINET. 
regalis, Flowering Fern, “ the hearte of Osmunde the 
waterman,” as one old botanist calls it, though modern 
writers refer its name to Osmunder, a Saxon name for 
the Celtic divinity, Thor. We must give a prominent 
place to the brilliant Cardinal Flower, Lobelia cardin- 
alis, well worth a place in every garden. It is a tall- 
growing perennial, making a brilliant show in our 
swamps through the summer and early autumn. The 
autumn Sneeze-wort, Helenium autumnale , is a hand¬ 
some, showy plant, notwithstanding the unromantic 
nature of its local name. It is fond of growing along 
water-courses, indeed, I have seen it, during wet sea¬ 
sons, growing in the water, with only the flowers show¬ 
ing above it, together with the Actinomeris, one of its 
near allies. We have such a large number of golden- 
hued autumn flowers of the Sun-flower type. 
We should display two of our native Lilies having a 
a fondness for low ground. Lilium eanadense, Yellow 
Lily, is a prominent feature of our northern swamps, 
and Lilium superbum , Turk's-cap Lily; the latter is an 
extremely handsome species. 
Our imaginary water-garden is not complete without 
a few masses of the Blue Flag, Iris versicolor, known in 
song and story as Fleur de lis, or “ fayre Floure 
Delice,” as Spencer calls it. Its sword-like leaves stand 
up in bold contrast to its surroundings, while the va¬ 
riety of color shown by the genus sufficiently justifies 
the name of Iris—rainbow. 
The Iris has been the national flower of France for 
seven centuries, and from this distinction has beeU 
much affected by the poets. Perhaps the prettiest 
lines upon it are those by Longfellow, though they are 
too long to quote at full length here. 
“Thou art the Iris, fair among the fairest, 
Who, armed with golden rod, 
And winged with the celestial azure, bearest 
The message of some god. 
Thou art the muse, who, far from crowded cities, 
Hauntest the sylvan streams, 
Playing on pipes of reed the artless ditties 
That come to us in dreams.” 
E. L. Taplin. 
THE CHRYSANTHEMUM. 
I 
As the Chrysanthemum occupies so prominent a 
position in the floral world, and our florists have given 
it such an impetus by raising some of the finest varie¬ 
ties ever exhibited, and in such numbers as to astonish 
both florists and amateurs in this country and in Eu¬ 
rope, the following history of the plant, which we repub¬ 
lish from a recent London magazine, will be of especial 
interest : 
“The first mention we have of the interesting com¬ 
posite flower known to gardeners as Chrysanthemum 
sinense, is in Ksempfer’s account of his travels in Japan, 
published in the year 1712. It was described by Lin¬ 
naeus in* his “Species Plantarum,” in 1753, under the 
name of Chrysanthemum indicum. In 1784 it was found 
by Thunberg growing wild near Nagasaki. Meanwhile, 
a small single yellow flower had in 1764 been brought 
to Europe from China, and planted in the Botanic Gar¬ 
dens at Chelsea, where, however, it attracted little 
notice, and soon afterwards died out. 
“In 1789 a French merchant named Blanchard im¬ 
ported some plants from China to France, and the next 
year they found their way to England, where they were 
sold at a high price, and grown in a greenhouse. 
“ In 1795 there was a Chrysanthemum seen in blossom 
in Mr. Colville’s nursery in the King’s Road, Chelsea. 
The flowers were small—only half-double—and of a 
dark purple ; the petals were ragged and uneven. 
“ From 1798 to 1822 sixteen varieties were introduced 
from China. After that, we got on faster, and in one 
year alone (1824) twenty different sorts were imported. 
It was not, however, till 1830 that seed was first saved 
in the south of France ; much finer blossoms were thus 
produced. In a few years’ time Chrysanthemums be¬ 
came so numerous that the old nomenclature— white 
clustered . aster flowered, marigold flowered, quilled 
yellow, tasseled pink, etc.—had to be superseded as in¬ 
adequate, and each was dignified with a distinct title. 
Even then choice named seedlings were thought a good 
deal of. 
“The raiser of the first European seedlings was the 
late Chevalier Berquet, of Toulouse. The climate of 
England is not so well adapted for raising seedlings as 
that of France, but still our nurserymen persevered, and 
in 1836 the first English seedlings were sent out. At 
the same time over 500 were raised by an amateur alone 
in Jersey, from plants received from France. 
“A great sensation was created by the Jersey seed¬ 
lings, which were much admired by our leading horti¬ 
culturists. 
“ There was a greater variety of color than had hith¬ 
erto been seen in Chrysanthemums, and the flowers 
were large and full; some of this set are still extant. 
“There were no incurved varieties before 1830, so the 
Chrysanthemum in its best form may be said to be quite 
a recent flower. 
“ The first Chrysanthemum show was held at Stoke 
Newington, the meeting place of the oldest horticul¬ 
tural society in England, in 1846, and it was not till 
after this event that our favorite became an exhibition 
flower. 
“ The year 1846 is an important date in the history of 
the Chrysanthemum, for it was then that Robert For¬ 
tune brought home from China a small lilac flower, 
which he called the Chusan Daisy, and another smaller 
still, of a purple color, to which he gave the name of the 
Chinese Minimum. 
“ The following year these new acquisitions were in¬ 
troduced into Mr. Salter’s nursery at Versailles, and 
from them sprang all the pompones. 
The seedlings of the Chusan Daisy were a great im¬ 
provement on the original flowers, and the story goes 
that a French gentleman on being presented with an 
exquisite specimen for his button-hole by the veteran 
florist, exclaimed, admiringly, “Pompon” (little pet), 
and thus gave the name to a whole class of Chrysanthe¬ 
mums. 
The year 1862 forms another era in the life of the 
‘golden flower,” for the valuable Japanese varieties 
