chrysanthemum - History, Economic Uses

A name applied in a broad sense to various members of the family Compositae. The well-known large-flowered ‘chrysanthemums’ of gardens (Genus: Dendranthema) have a long history of cultivation, especially in China and Japan, and modern plants are derived from complex hybrids whose exact parentage is uncertain. Numerous cultivars have been developed, varying in flower colour, shape, and size, popularly grown as cut flowers and also as pot plants, often chemically treated to produce bushy, short-stemmed plants.

See also: Daisy

iChrysanthemum
A cluster of chrysanthemums
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Asterales Family: Asteraceae Genus: Chrysanthemum
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 shiwogiku Chrysanthemum sinuatum Chrysanthemum vestitum Chrysanthemum weyrichii Chrysanthemum yoshinaganthum Chrysanthemum zawadskii

Chrysanthemums are a genus (Chrysanthemum) of about 30 species of perennial flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, native to Asia and northeastern Europe. the naming of the genera has been contentious, but a ruling of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature in 1999 has 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.

Chrysanthemum species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species - see list of Lepidoptera which feed on Chrysanthemum.

History

Chrysanthemums were cultivated in China as a flowering herb as far back as the 15th century BC. Linnaeus named it from the Greek prefix chrys-, which means golden (the colour of the original flowers), and -anthemon, meaning flower.

Economic Uses

Ornamental uses

Modern chrysanthemums are much more showy than their wild relatives.

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.

Chrysanthemums make a welcome addition to the garden, in particular because their late flowering offers advantages when the other garden plants are winding down for winter.

Culinary uses

Chrysanthemum flowers are boiled to make a sweet drink in some parts of Asia.

The leaves of several species such as Chrysanthemum coronarium, the Garland Chrysanthemum, which is grown commercially in East Asia as a leaf vegetable, known as tung ho (Chinese: 茼蒿; The term "chrysanthemum" is also used to refer to a certain type of firework shell which produces a pattern of trailing sparks similar to a chrysanthemum flower. External Links Germplasm Resources Information Network: Chrysanthemum Chrysanthemum further reading ICBN: List of conserved genera (scroll down for Chrysanthemum) Chrysanthemum Flowers