Traditional Show Standards for Gold Laced Polyanthus

Florists’ Standards for Gold-Laced Polyanthus

from The Gardener and Practical Florist, 1843

‚ The flower of the gold-laced polyanthus like that of the auricula is formed of one petal only, but being divided at the edge, it appears like five or six petals.

 

  • ‚ The single pip or flower should be perfectly flat and round, and be slightly scalloped on the edge, and three-quarters of an inch in diameter.
  • ‚ It should be divided in six places, forming six apparent flower leaves, each of which should be indented in the centre to make a kind of heart-shaped end; but the divisions must not reach the yellow eye.
  • ‚ The tube should be one fifth the whole width of the flower, and stand up at the edge, above the surface of the yellow eye.
  • ‚ The tube should be nearly filled up with six anthers, which are technically called the thrum, and the flower should not exhibit the pistil. Some polyanthuses show the pistil only, and are called “pin-eyed”; they are considered useless.
  • ‚ The flower should be divided thus–the yellow tube in the centre being measured, the yellow eye round the tube, should be the same width as its diameter and the ground colour of the flower should be the same.
  • ‚ Beyond this circle there is a yellow lacing, which should reach round every flower leaf of the yellow eye, and down the centre of every petal to the eye, and so much like the edging that the flower should appear to have twelve similar petals. The end of these twelve should be blunted, and so rounded like so many semi-circles, so that the outline of the circle should be interrupted as little as possible.
  • ‚ The edging round and down the centre of the leaves formed by the divisions, should be of even width all the way, and universally of the same shade of sulphur, lemon or yellow as the eye, and there must be by no means two shades of yellow in the eye.
  • ‚ The ground colours should be clear, well defined, perfectly smooth at the edge inside next to the eye, to form a circle; and outside: next to the lacing; a black or crimson ground.
  • ‚ The stem should be strong, straight, elastic, and from four to six inches in length; the footstalks of the flowers should be of such length as to bring all the flowers well together; the truss should comprise seven or more flowers, and be neatly arranged to be seen all at once.
  • ‚ The foliage should be short, broad, thick and cover the pot well.