Chrysanthemum morifolium was the first really large-flowered chrysanthemum ever seen in Europe. Only a few had survived the journey, and the one Blancard sent the abbé, which ultimately reached London, was tall and purple. The first European illustration of this new flower was plate 327 in the Botanical Magazine in 1796. The abbé, in his turn, sent specimens to the Jardin du Roi in Paris in 1790.
Chrysanthemum morifolium ‘Old Purple’.
Reproduced by permission of Chronica Horticulturae
The survival of this fragile new flower during those perilous times in France is astonishing. With the revolution raging, it is remarkable that people even thought about flowers. It is even more amazing that the Jardin du Roi, a symbol of the hated royal family, escaped utter destruction. The institution, which actually flourished under the new regime, was renamed the Museum of Natural History in 1800. A few of the more intellectual of the revolutionaries believed that understanding natural history was important to a new world order.
BOTANY
Chrysanthemums are in the family Asteraceae. This family produces blossoms with large composite heads. Short disc florets are clustered in the center of the blossom, and long, slim ray florets supply the “petals” surrounding the disc. The current botanical name of the horticultural chrysanthemum is Dendranthema grandiflorum, but in the United States it goes by the affectionate nickname of “mum.” When the name Dendranthema was proposed to replace Chrysanthemum, the members of the English National Chrysanthemum Society complained so vociferously that the change did not take place. Germplasm from other Dendranthema species, possibly D. japonicum and D. indicum, also contributes to the modern hybrid. C. indicum is the type species of the genus Chrysanthemum.
The next important division is into classes based on the flower’s shape, the so-called horticultural divisions. This nomenclature has evolved over the past century, absorbing new forms as they have been discovered. The classification system of the Chrysanthemum Society of America is based on the shape and arrangement of the rays as well as the disc florets: Irregular Incurve; Reflex; Regular Incurve; Decorative; Intermediate Incurve; Pompon; Single/Semi-Double; Anemone; Spoon; Quill; Spider; Brush and Thistle; and Exotic. These classes are in keeping with the international system.
The pompon variety was originally quite tall and even needed staking in some instances. The flower’s resemblance to the pompon on top of the French sailor’s hat was irresistible, and the name stuck. For a while, the early growers called it “pompone.” As members of the Asteraceae, chrysanthemums and dahlias look very much alike, up to and including the pompon forms.
The plant is native to the Northern Hemisphere and widespread across the Eurasian landmass. It is found most abundantly in the Mediterranean region, particularly Algeria and the Canary Islands, and in northern Asia: China, Japan, and Korea. A few species, mainly in the genus Tanacetum, are endemic to North America. The European and North African species are diploid, whereas the Asian plants range from diploid to decaploid. (“Diploid” means there are two sets of chromosomes. “Decaploid” means there are ten pairs. The presence of more chromosomes is often associated with larger and more complex flower heads.)
COMMERCIAL IMPORTANCE
This flower is now one of the most important floricultural crops in many countries. Together with poinsettias and orchids, the chrysanthemum appears at various positions in the lists of the top ten most frequently sold potted plants, cut flowers, and garden plants in the United States and other countries. In the 1990s, Japan led the way with 2 billion stems of cut flowers. In contrast, during that period, the Netherlands sold 800 million stems, Colombia 600 million, Italy 500 million, and the United States 300 million. Chrysanthemums in Italy are almost solely used for funereal purposes, and Italians get quite upset if a guest arrives with a bunch of chrysanthemums as a hostess gift.
In the U.S. Department of Agriculture data for 2009/2010, the grand total of hardy potted chrysanthemums sold was 45 million pots, with 7 million indoor pots, as well as 8 million bunches of cut pompons. (By comparison, 36 million pots of poinsettias were sold during that same period, and 21 million pots of orchids.)
DEVELOPMENT IN EUROPE
Chrysanthemums seized imaginations in England and France at much the same time. Here was a compact floriferous plant, available in attractive colors, easy to grow, and coming into bloom at the end of the summer. It could continue in flower as late as December. This was something to conjure away the bleak dullness of late autumn. An English horticultural observer, A. H. Haworth, suggested that if they were planted against a sunny wall in England and properly tended, the flowers might still be blooming in January. The French climate was somewhat more propitious, and the flowers flourished in the warmer regions.
ENGLAND
The chrysanthemum was said to have flowered for the first time in England at Colvill’s nursery in the King’s Road, Chelsea, in 1796. Colvill’s ‘Old Purple’, a form of the purple flower Blancard had originally given to the Jardin du Roi in France, was tall with double purple flowers. Its Linnaean name was Chrysanthemum morifolium (now C. × morifolium Ramat). Chrysanthemums had been grown at the Chelsea Physic Garden many years before, in the quiescent “second epoch,” but they had been ignored and lost.
A Dutch merchant, Jacob Layn, had introduced chrysanthemums into the Netherlands in about 1688, but just as occurred in England, once they died out no one seemed to remember anything about them, and a century later it was as if they had never been there. There were said to be six varieties of the flower. William, Prince of the House of Orange in the Netherlands, took over the throne of England in 1688 as William III. He and his wife, Mary, introduced the Dutch style of gardening. They reigned together, always referred to as “William and Mary,” and favored trees and shrubs over herbaceous plants. The chrysanthemum was not used.
After the flowers were reintroduced, the chrysanthemum began to spread slowly throughout England. The Horticultural Society of London was enthusiastic, and Curtis’s Botanical Magazine had quite a few pictures of this “new” flower. George Harrison of Downham in Norfolk was especially enamored of it. In 1831, he protected his late plantings under glass, with stunning results. Eventually his efforts led to the first chrysanthemum show, held in Norwich in 1843.
Three years later, the Stoke Newington Chrysanthemum Society was started. This later became the National Chrysanthemum Society. Stoke Newington was a charming village just outside north London at the time. It has since been incorporated into north London.
In his 1971 book about antique plants, Roy Genders mentioned several chrysanthemum enthusiasts who were active before the next major event, the advent of the Chusan Daisy variety. These included Isaac Wheeler of Oxford, who exhibited his flowers at the Horticultural Society in 1832, and another resident of Downham, John Freestone of Watlington Hall, who was the first Englishman to ripen seed and raise new varieties. Chrysanthemum seed is hard to collect and handle, so this was a real achievement.
Vauxhall, in London, the home of the famous and also infamous Vauxhall Gardens (who knows what high jinks went on there), was where Chandler’s Nursery grew seedlings from seed sent by John Salter. Salter was an English nurseryman who worked in Versailles for a number of years before having to return to England in 1848. The populist uprisings in Paris made things too uncertain for him. Two of Salter’s cultivars, ‘Queen of England’ and ‘Annie Salter’, lasted a very long time and could still be found in some nursery catalogues as late as 1960.
Early enthusiasts also had C. indicum in their gardens. Its single yellow flowers provided an additional source of color. Its origins went back almost a