The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-12-08
CHRYSANTHEMUM LORE.
In tho Unrecorded Night of Time
II Bloomed Glorious in
The East.
IT'S Origin Far Antedates the
Records Of the Books
OF Science.
ConfucIus Wrote OF It Twenty Centuries
Ago-When 1t became Popular
Its Developments.

N8NDE F4EEAMAEG ~ 10SCAOfkhSAS
History md botany tell US the
plant ia nnative in the temperate
parts Of the old world. and that its modern
name comes from the Greek tongue and
signifies .'gold flower" This genealogical
fact intimates that the ancients held the
flower in certain esteem, and suggests, at
least, that they were familiar with the yell
low variety. The books tell us that it Is of
the order compositse, of the tribe senecion-
idae, and has an involuors with imbricated
scales, d naked receptacle, and the first des-
titute of pappus. This is all doubtless
true. but whosoever recalls it or cares for
it in gazing upon the radiant wealth of
color and glory of form which meet the
eve in 30 many windows at this season of
they carp
But We must go far back of scientific
books If we would learn aught of the origin
Of the chrysanthemum. No one can tx the
date when it began to be priced, but we feel
assured that it held high rank in China
1000 years ago, for one of the old cities of
the ~'.fowsry kingdom has the name,
.'C%hrysanthemum City" or II would be
that in a literal translation. Confucius
mentions it, and he is credited with living
800 years before Christ. The man who is
said to have given it's name to a CITY lived
and cultivated the plants when the Romans
were occupying Britain. Some of the city
namer's successors perpetuated his taste
and appreciation, for Chinese writers of
hundreds Of years ago gave lists Of over $50
varieties.
In Japan, too, the flower has a record
running back into the might of time" 1t
has place in the national arms and the
official seal, and the most popular fete is
dedicated to the flower, whose petals are
on that day thrown into the favorite tipple
of the Japs as a potent charm against evil.
In both these nations their modern his
tory t~sstiies to the antiquity of the popu-
lar admiration for the flower. for how other
wise could it hold a place in coat-of-arms
and seal, and on the official sword of the
sovereign ruler in our twelfth century.
European literature recognizes and cata-
logues the chrysanthemum in 1869, full two
centuries ago, whom one DR.. Jacob Brey-
mus founa Six varieties in Holland. He
evidently was not up in his Greek, for he
calls it matricaria japonica ma1ima. 1t
appears, however. that the varieties he
mentions soon passes out of the knowledge
Of florists and botonists. Numerous Euro
pean authors before and after him aIlude
to it, but only as a foreign plant which they
had heard of or seen in their travels.
The plant was not permanently intro
duced from Europe-at least, not the large
Powered yariety-until q century later. In
1889 NJ. Blanchard introduced three plants
from the east in Marseilles. At first these
1rara n Mt rocoppj1cI no tho Horor NAV
toned either in Greek and Dutch, but were
regarded AS q large-ilowered variety of the
camomile. Only one of his plants sur
vived, and this was the p%rogenitor of the
first generally known purple chrysanthe-
man. A year later the flower made its way
to the English gardens Of Kew, and there
is also early mention of it at Chelsea.
English and French botanists called it
cindicum for many years.
In a time which to modern thought seems
slow. the chrysanthemum achieved a re-
markable popularity. In 1924 one garden
at Chiswiok boosted of twenty seven varie-
ties, and the number WAS nearly doubled
two years after. But English growers had j
little idea of it's antiquity, or of its Chinese
popularity. They gave their varieties COM
mon-place, descriptive names, like STARRY
purple" "guilled pink" expanded pur-
pie" and ''clustered Yellow and it was
only years afterward that they were recog- l
nized aB congeners of Chinese flowers known
as dragon brains" yellow Budha's head" .
full heaven of stars and 'the heavenly
interview" Neither Chinese nor English
had then attained the refinement of nomen-
clature which attaches the names of pop {
ular or conspicuous personages to the floral
novelties. !
At the close of the first quarter of this Z
century an English exhibition had 100 =
plants in bloom. but the varieties were J
limited. The propagation Of varieties was {
slow, from the difficulty of maturing the G
seed, and thus hybridiZing or crossing the -
known varieties. In 1926 q French cult -,
vator accidentally found some matured :
seeds and from them he developed several Z
rare forms. This success stimulated the t
efforts of others, and hundreds OF other va |
rieties have been originated, tested and Sc
lected since his time, while the number of !
those rejected can hardly be imagined. AZ in t
other hybrldlzing experiments, often out of v
the hundreds OF new forms scarcely Il single
one will show merit superior to its pro- q
and the ratio OF SUCCESS to failure
is a Thousand TO one. t
Inc hrst serious treatise on the plant saw
The light in Germany in 1889. A year later t
Mr. A. Il. Huworth, an English grower, t
published a list of ,fifty-three known varie-
lies. Ihe hrst chrysanthemum shows in o
which varieties were recognised were at
birmingham and Swansea, in 1886. At the Il
former the silver cup was given to q speei- a
men plant of eighteen branches and lover a
blooms. Boston cult1yators would
easily win silver cups if that plant were the {
maximum of competition. p
In 1916 the Royal horticultural Society v
sent Mr.. Robert Fortune to China, and he
was the first to reveal to Europe and Amer
lea the wonders of the chrysanthemum as Il
by Chinese patience and skill. G
But the plants he secured did not attract r
until continental growers had "
them as Il new variety, now il
known as pompou. The south of England v
and the channel islands have produced 0
some OF the finest specimens, the climate Il
being especially favorable. II
Since 1861 the chrysanthemum has at "
tanned great popularity. Mr., Fortune II
again visited China and Japan in thai year,
and sent nome seven Japanese varieties,
SO little were they appreciated thnt, in 1879
They had been Increased to only thistv-five
But since then what a chappei 0
The tulip mania of Holland has not been C
repeated, but quite as much of skill and q
patience has been devoted to the work, and, i
t Is encouraging to add, the results have -
been fer more satisfactory. II
Broad c~lasses-French Chinese. japan r
ase, Pompon. ln-curved and Reilexed-now t.
tiylde the G eat family into groups, and g
'ach shares in the wonderful diversity of Ii
'olor: white lemon. yellow, pink, red, i
ica2let, bronze and brown, with numerous C
'i-color varieties and delicate shadines, ii
Until my LADY," has no trouble in select. h
ng her corsage boquet to harmonic with II
ne shade her most exquisitely tinted i