Chrysanthemum

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Chrysanthemum

Chrysanthemum sp
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Tribe: Anthemideae
Genus: Chrysanthemum
Type species
Chrysanthemum indicum L.
Species
Chrysanthemum aphrodite
Chrysanthemum arcticum
Chrysanthemum
argyrophyllum
Chrysanthemum arisanense
Chrysanthemum boreale
Chrysanthemum
chalchingolicum
Chrysanthemum chanetii
Chrysanthemum
cinerariaefolium
Chrysanthemum
coronarium
Chrysanthemum crassum
Chrysanthemum
 glabriusculum
Chrysanthemum
hypargyrum
Chrysanthemum indicum
Chrysanthemum japonense
Chrysanthemum japonicum
Chrysanthemum
lavandulifolium
Chrysanthemum mawii
Chrysanthemum
maximowiczii
Chrysanthemum
mongolicum
Chrysanthemum morifolium
Chrysanthemum morii
Chrysanthemum okiense
Chrysanthemum oreastrum
Chrysanthemum ornatum
Chrysanthemum pacificum
Chrysanthemum
potentilloides
Chrysanthemum segetum
Chrysanthemum shiwogiku
Chrysanthemum sinuatum
Chrysanthemum vestitum
Chrysanthemum weyrichii
Chrysanthemum
yoshinaganthum
Chrysanthemum zawadskii

Chrysanthemums, often called mums, are a genus (Chrysanthemum) of about 30 species of

perennial flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, native to Asia and northeastern Europe.

Contents
[hide]

 1 Taxonomy
 2 History
 3 Economic uses
o 3.1 Ornamental uses
o 3.2 Culinary uses
o 3.3 Insecticidal uses
o 3.4 Environmental uses
 o 3.5 Medicinal uses
 4 Cultural significance and symbolism
 5 See also
 6 References
 7 Further reading
 8 External links

[edit] Taxonomy

The genus once included many more species, but was split several decades ago into several
genera; the naming of the genera has been contentious, but a ruling of the International Code of
Botanical Nomenclature in 1999 resulted in the defining species of the genus being changed to
Chrysanthemum indicum, thereby restoring the economically important florist's chrysanthemum
to the genus Chrysanthemum. These species had been, during the period between the splitting of
the genus and the ICBN ruling, commonly treated under the genus name Dendranthema.

The other species previously treated in the narrow view of the genus Chrysanthemum are now
transferred to the genus Glebionis. The other genera split off from Chrysanthemum include
Argyranthemum, Leucanthemopsis, Leucanthemum, Rhodanthemum, and Tanacetum.

The species of Chrysanthemum are herbaceous perennial plants growing to 50–150 cm tall, with
deeply lobed leaves and large flowerheads, white, yellow or pink in the wild species.

Chrysanthemum species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species — see
list of Lepidoptera that feed on chrysanthemums.

Today’s flowers are not as bright or large as ‘show’ varieties.

[edit] History
Cultivated chrysanthemums can be yellow, white, or even bright red, such as these.

Historical painting of Chrysanthemums from the New International Encyclopedia 1902.

Chrysanthemums were first cultivated in China as a flowering herb as far back as the 15th
century BC.[1] An ancient Chinese city (Xiaolan Town of Zhongshan City) was named Ju-Xian,
meaning "chrysanthemum city". The plant is particularly significant during the Double Ninth
Festival. The flower was introduced into Japan probably in the 8th century AD, and the Emperor
adopted the flower as his official seal. There is a "Festival of Happiness" in Japan that celebrates
the flower.

The flower was brought to Europe in the 17th century. Linnaeus named it from the Greek word
chrysous, "golden"(the colour of the original flowers), and -anthemon, meaning flower.

[edit] Economic uses

[edit] Ornamental uses

Modern chrysanthemums are much more showy than their wild relatives. The flowers occur in
various forms, and can be daisy-like, decorative, pompons or buttons. This genus contains many
hybrids and thousands of cultivars developed for horticultural purposes. In addition to the
traditional yellow, other colors are available, such as white, purple, and red. The most important
hybrid is Chrysanthemum × morifolium (syn. C. × grandiflorum), derived primarily from C.
indicum but also involving other species.

Chrysanthemums are broken into two basic groups, Garden Hardy and Exhibition. Garden hardy
mums are new perennials capable of being wintered over in the ground in most northern
latitudes. Exhibition varieties are not usually as sturdy. Garden hardies are defined by their
ability to produce an abundance of small blooms with little if any mechanical assistance (ie.
staking) and withstanding wind and rain. Exhibition varieties on the other hand require staking,
over-wintering in a relatively dry cool environment, sometimes with the addition of night lights.

The Exhibition varieties can be used to create many amazing plant forms; Large disbudded
blooms, spray forms, as well as many artistically trained forms, such as: Thousand Bloom,
Standard (trees), Fans, Hanging Baskets, Topiary, Bonsai, and Cascades.

Chrysanthemum blooms are divided into 13 different bloom forms by the US National
Chrysanthemum Society, Inc., which is in keeping with the international classification system.
The bloom forms are defined by the way in which the ray and disk florets are arranged.

Chrysanthemum blooms are composed of many individual flowers (florets), each one capable of
producing a seed. The disk florets are in the center of the bloom head, and the ray florets are on
the perimeter. The ray florets are considered imperfect flowers, as they only possess the female
productive organs, while the disk florets are considered perfect flowers as they possess both male
and female reproductive organs.

An Irregular Incurve chrysanthemum, or 大菊 ogiku in Japanese, meaning "big chrysanthemum".

The size of this flower is around 20cm (about 8 inches).

Irregular Incurve: These are the giants of the chrysanthemum world. Quite often disbudded to
create a single giant bloom (ogiku), the disk florets are completely concealed, while the ray
florets curve inwardly to conceal the disk and also hang down to create a 'skirt'.

Reflex: The disk florets are concealed and the ray florets reflex outwards to create a mop like
appearance.

Regular Incurve: Similar to the irregular incurves, only usually smaller blooms, with nearly
perfect globular form. Disk florets are completely concealed. They used to be called 'Chinese'.
Decorative: Similar to reflex blooms without the mop like appearance. Disk florets are
completely concealed, ray florets usually don't radiate at more than a 90 degree angle to the stem.

Intermediate Incurve: These blooms are in-between the Irregular and Regular incurves in both
size and form. They usually have broader florets and a more loosely composed bloom. Again, the
disk florets are completely concealed.

Pompon: *Note the spelling, it is not pompom. The blooms are fully double, of small size, and
almost completely globular in form.

Single/Semi-Double: These blooms have completely exposed disk florets, with between 1 and 7
rows of ray florets, usually radiating at not more than a 90 degree angle to the stem.

Anemone: The disk florets are prominently featured, quite often raised and overshadowing the
ray florets.

A red chrysanthemum

Spoon: The disk florets are visible and the long tubular ray florets are spatulate.

Quill: The disk florets are completely concealed, and the ray florets are tube like.

Spider: The disk florets are completely concealed, and the ray florets are tube like with hooked
or barbed ends, hanging loosely around the stem.

Brush & Thistle: The disk florets may be visible. The ray florets are often tube like, and project
all around the flower head, or project parallel to the stem.

Exotic: These blooms defy classification as they possess the attributes of more than one of the
other twelve bloom types.

Chrysanthemum leaves resemble its close cousin, the mugwort weed — so much so that
mugwort is sometimes called wild chrysanthemum — making them not always the first choice
for professional gardeners.
[edit] Culinary uses

Dried chrysanthemum flowers

Yellow or white chrysanthemum flowers are boiled to make a sweet drink in some parts of Asia.
The resulting beverage is known simply as "chrysanthemum tea" (菊花茶, pinyin: júhuā chá, in
Chinese). Chrysanthemum tea has many medicinal uses, including an aid in recovery from
influenza. In Korea, a rice wine flavored with chrysanthemum flowers is called gukhwaju (국화
주).photo 1photo 2

Chrysanthemum leaves are steamed or boiled and used as greens, especially in Chinese cuisine.
Other uses include using the patels of chrysanthemum to mix with a thick snake meat soup (蛇
羹) in order to enhance the aroma.

[edit] Insecticidal uses

Chrysanthemum coronarium in the Tel Aviv botanical garden

Pyrethrum (Chrysanthemum [or Tanacetum] cinerariaefolium) is economically important as a
natural source of insecticide. The flowers are pulverized, and the active components called
pyrethrins, contained in the seed cases, are extracted and sold in the form of an oleoresin. This is
applied as a suspension in water or oil, or as a powder. Pyrethrins attack the nervous systems of
all insects, and inhibit female mosquitoes from biting. When not present in amounts fatal to
insects, they still appear to have an insect repellent effect. They are harmful to fish, but are far
less toxic to mammals and birds than many synthetic insecticides, except in consumer airborne
backyard applications. They are non-persistent, being biodegradable and also breaking down
easily on exposure to light. They are considered to be amongst the safest insecticides for use
around food. (Pyrethroids are synthetic insecticides based on natural pyrethrum, e.g., permethrin.

[edit] Environmental uses

Chrysanthemum plants have been shown to reduce indoor air pollution by the NASA Clean Air
Study.[2]

[edit] Medicinal uses

Extracts of Chrysanthemum plants (stem and flower) have been shown to have a wide variety of
potential medicinal properties, including anti-HIV-1,[3][4] antibacterial[5] and antimycotic.[6]

[edit] Cultural significance and symbolism

In some countries of Europe (e.g., France, Italy, Poland, Croatia), white chrysanthemums are
symbolic of death and are only used for funerals or on graves - similarly, in China, Japan and
Korea, white chrysanthemums are symbolic of lamentation and/or grief. In some other countries,
it represents honesty.[7] In the United States, the flower is usually regarded as positive and
cheerful.[citation needed]

Chrysanthemum Crest on the Japanese battleship Mikasa

Chrysanthemum Crest
The gate of Yasukuni shrine

A Ming Dynasty Chinese red lacquerware dish with carved design of chrysanthemums and
dragons

 The Chrysanthemum Throne is the name given to the position of Japanese emperor.
 Chrysanthemum crest (菊花紋章, kikukamonshō or kikkamonshō) is a general term for a
mon of chrysanthemum blossom design; there are more than 150 different patterns. The
Imperial Seal of Japan is a particularly notable one; it is used by members of the Japanese
Imperial family. There are also a number of formerly state-endowed shrines (官国弊社,
kankokuheisha) which have adopted a chrysanthemum crest.[8]
 The Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum: a Japanese honor awarded by the emperor.
 In Japan the chrysanthemum is also a metaphor for homosexuality in poems, as the
tightly gathered petals are supposed to represent the anus.[9]
 The chrysanthemum is one of the "Four Gentlemen" (四君子) of China (the others being
the plum blossom, the orchid, and bamboo). The chrysanthemum is said to have been
favored by Tao Qian, an influential Chinese poet, and is symbolic of nobleness. It is also
one of the 4 symbolic seasonal flowers.
 The chrysanthemum is the flower of the American musician fraternity Phi Mu Alpha
Sinfonia.
 The white chrysanthemum is the flower of Triangle Fraternity, a society of engineers,
architects, and scientists.
 Chrysanthemums were recognized as the official flower of the city of Chicago in 1961.[10]
 The term "chrysanthemum" is also used to refer to a certain type of firework shell that
produces a pattern of trailing sparks similar to a chrysanthemum flower.[citation needed]
 The chrysanthemum is also the flower of November.[11]
 A Chrysanthemum Festival is held each year in Tongxiang, near Hangzhou, China.[12]
 The "golden flower" referred to in the 2006 movie Curse of the Golden Flower is a
chrysanthemum.
 Chrysanthemums are common visual hallucinations induced by the psychoactive
Dimethyltryptamine.[13]
 The Rock band Everclear has a song named after the flower.
 The city of Nihonmatsu, Japan hosts the "Nihonmatsu Chrysanthemum Dolls Exhibition"
every autumn in historical ruin of Kasumigajo castle.[14]
 the chrysanthemums are the topic in hundreds of poems of China. [15]
[edit] See also

Common Name:
Chrysanthemum Garland

Scientific Name:
Chrysanthemum coronarium

Taste and Aroma

Chrysanthemums have a slight to bitter flavor, pungent.

General Description

Growing

Warnings
Only the petals of these composite flowers are edible. The pollen of composite flowers is highly allergenic
and may cause reactions in sensitive individuals. Sufferers of asthma, ragweed, and hayfever should not
consume composite flowers, and may have extreme allergies to ingesting any flowers at all.