Chrysanthemum

• 1. Introduction

  ›

  The chrysanthemum takes its name from two Greek words, chrysos for gold and anthemon for flower. The name is a small puzzle, because the flowers it describes come in many colors besides gold. These perennial plants bloom in the autumn, and nearly all of the genus began in East Asia, with China as the center of its diversity. A smaller share grows in northeastern Europe.

  One plant sits on imperial crests, on graves, in teacups and in insecticide. That raises a few questions. Why would one flower mean cheerfulness in one country and grief in another? How did botanists come to argue over which plants deserve the name at all? And how did an autumn bloom end up stamped on the weapons of an empire?

  2454

• 2. A Genus Reshuffled

  ›

  In 1753, Linnaeus formally described the genus Chrysanthemum with just 14 species, which is why his initial L. still follows the name as its botanical authority. The genus once held far more species than that. Several decades ago, botanists divided it into separate genera. The florist's chrysanthemums, the economically important ones, were moved into a genus called Dendranthema.

  The naming of these genera stayed contentious for years. Then the International Botanical Congress ruled in 1999 that the defining species of the genus would be Chrysanthemum indicum. That single decision returned the florist's chrysanthemums to their original genus.

  Six genera now stand apart from it: Argyranthemum, Glebionis, Leucanthemopsis, Leucanthemum, Rhodanthemum and Tanacetum. Old names linger in the records. Chrysanthemum coronarium is now Glebionis coronaria, and Chrysanthemum maximum is now Leucanthemum maximum. As of 2025, Plants of the World Online accepted more than forty species in the genus, including Chrysanthemum indicum and the hybrid Chrysanthemum x morifolium.

  A chrysanthemum plant is a perennial herb, and sometimes a subshrub. Its leaves alternate along the stem and are divided into leaflets. Their edges may be lobed or toothed, but are rarely smooth, and the stalks have hairy bases.

  Each flower head sits on a base wrapped in layers of phyllaries. A single row of ray florets, in white, yellow or red, circles the yellow disc florets. Some plants carry one solitary head, and others carry an array of several. The pollen grains measure about 34 microns.

  The fruit is a ribbed achene. That small detail matters later, because the achenes of a former relative hold a natural insecticide.

  5114555

• 3. The Gentleman of Autumn

  ›

  Around the 15th century BCE, people in China were already growing the chrysanthemum as a flowering herb. By 1630, more than 500 cultivars had been recorded there. By 2014, the world was estimated to hold over 20,000 cultivars, with about 7,000 of them in China.

  Chinese and East Asian art counts the chrysanthemum among the Four Gentlemen, alongside the plum blossom, the orchid and bamboo. The poet Tao Qian, an influential figure, is said to have favored the flower. It became a symbol of nobility, and one of four symbolic seasonal flowers.

  The flower is also tied to the ninth moon and to the Double Ninth Festival. During the Han dynasty, people drank chrysanthemum wine on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month to prolong their lives. Its health-giving reputation made it a symbol of longevity. The Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China lists two kinds for medical use, Yejuhua and Juhua. Yejuhua has historically been said to treat carbuncles, furuncles, conjunctivitis, headache and vertigo. Juhua is said to treat colds, headache, vertigo and conjunctivitis.

  In Kaifeng, the passion reached a phenomenal scale during the Song dynasty, until the city fell to the Jürchens in 1126. The city has held the Kaifeng Chrysanthemum Cultural Festival since 1983. It was renamed the China Kaifeng Chrysanthemum Cultural Festival in 1994, and it runs from the 18th of October to the 18th of November each year. It is the largest chrysanthemum festival in China.

  Beijing and Kaifeng both name the chrysanthemum their city flower. Tongxiang, near Hangzhou, holds its own yearly festival. A town called Xiaolan, in the city of Zhongshan, was once named Ju-Xian, meaning chrysanthemum city. Hundreds of Chinese poems take the flower as their subject.

  In the 2006 film Curse of the Golden Flower, the golden flower of the title is a chrysanthemum.

  927222324

• 4. The Imperial Crest

  ›

  The 5th century brought the chrysanthemum to Japan by way of China. From around the 10th century, in the Heian period, Japanese poets made it a theme of waka, the traditional poetry. The Kokin Wakashū is the most famous collection among them. In 910, the imperial court held its first chrysanthemum show, which began the festival called Chrysanthemum Day. It falls on the 9th day of the 9th month and is one of the five ancient sacred festivals.

  In the 12th century, during the Kamakura period, the retired Emperor Go-Toba adopted the flower as the mon, or family crest, of the Imperial family. That choice made the chrysanthemum the flower that symbolized autumn in Japan.

  The design in use today dates to 1869. In that year, a two-layered, 16-petal pattern was designated as the symbol of the emperor. Princes used a simpler, single-layer pattern. More than 150 patterns of the chrysanthemum crest exist, and each one signals a link to the Emperor.

  The name has spread well beyond the crest. The position of Japanese Emperor, and the throne itself, is called the Chrysanthemum Throne. The Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum is an honor the emperor awards on the advice of the Japanese government.

  In Imperial Japan, small arms had to be stamped with the imperial chrysanthemum, because they were considered the personal property of the emperor.

  2811303233

• 5. Dolls, Dwarfs and Giants

  ›

  Cultivation in Japan began in the Nara and Heian periods, between the early 8th and late 12th centuries. It gained popularity in the Edo period, from the early 17th to the late 19th century. Economic and cultural growth made chrysanthemums, cherry blossoms, Japanese iris and morning glories all fashionable. Growers created many shapes, colors and varieties, and they also developed new ways of growing and shaping the flowers.

  The cultivars of the Edo period were known for a remarkable variety of flower shapes. From the end of that period they were exported to China, where they changed how Chinese cultivars were grown and how popular they were.

  The Meiji period, from the late 19th to the early 20th century, favored size. Because the chrysanthemum symbolized the Imperial family, its importance kept growing. Growers created Ogiku cultivars, the name meaning great chrysanthemum, with flowers over 20 cm across. Those giants influenced later trends in the flower.

  Every autumn, exhibitions appear at the Shinjuku Gyo-en, Meiji Shrine and Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo. Yasukuni, once a state-endowed shrine, has adopted the chrysanthemum crest. Growing prize plants remains an active hobby for many Japanese people, who enter them in contests. The flower is also a common motif on porcelain, lacquerware and kimono.

  In the city of Nihonmatsu, an exhibition of chrysanthemum dolls fills the ruins of Nihonmatsu Castle each autumn. The dolls depict fictional characters from traditional sources such as kabuki and from modern ones such as Disney.

  Japan also developed a chrysanthemum bonsai over the centuries. The cultivated flower lives about 5 years and can be kept miniature. A bonsai-like effect can also come from dead wood, with the flower growing over its back so that the front looks like a tiny tree in bloom.

  The Nagoya Castle Chrysanthemum Competition began after the end of the Pacific War. It has three categories. The first is cultivated flowers, the second is bonsai flowers combined with dead wood, and the third is miniature landscapes.

  1112312829

• 6. Flowers of Mourning and Joy

  ›

  In France, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Poland, Hungary and Croatia, incurve chrysanthemums symbolize death. They are used only for funerals or placed on graves. Other types carry no such symbolism.

  In Italy, the plant flowers between the end of October and the beginning of November, which coincides with the Day of the Dead on the 2nd of November. That timing is a probable reason Italians traditionally bring chrysanthemums to deceased loved ones at the cemetery. In 1890, Giacomo Puccini wrote Crisantemi, a movement for string quartet, in memory of his friend Amedeo di Savoia Duca d'Aosta. In Poland, chrysanthemums are laid on graves to honor the dead during All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day.

  In China, Japan and Korea, white chrysanthemums symbolize adversity, lamentation and grief. In Korea, the flower has another life in ceramics. It appears extensively in inlaid Goryeo ware, and it was reproduced in stamp form on Buncheong wares. The 20th-century potter Kim Se-yong made double-wall wares in which every petal was painted in white clay against a celadon background. A vase made with that technique was presented to Queen Elizabeth II in 1999 and sits in the Royal Collection.

  Korean mourners have laid wreaths of white chrysanthemums at funerals since the early 20th century. Before that, people wore white clothing at funerals. Western influence made black the prevailing color, and white chrysanthemums preserved the older tradition of mourning in white. Korea also holds flower shows for the chrysanthemum, such as the Masan Gagopa Chrysanthemum Festival.

  Other cultures read the flower differently. In some countries it stands for honesty. The Victorian language of flowers gave it several meanings. The Chinese chrysanthemum meant cheerfulness, the red one stood for I Love, and the yellow one symbolized slighted love. The Victorians also called it the flower of November.

  In Australia, Mother's Day falls in May, when the flower is in season. People traditionally wear a white chrysanthemum, or a similar white flower, to honor their mothers, and chrysanthemums are often given as presents. In Iran, the flower is associated with the Zoroastrian spiritual being Ashi Vanghuhi, a female Yazad presiding over blessings.

  1943343618

• 7. Westward Across the Ocean

  ›

  In 1798, Colonel John Stevens imported a cultivated variety called Dark Purple from England, and chrysanthemums entered American horticulture. He was trying to grow attractions within the Elysian Fields in Hoboken, New Jersey.

  On the 5th and the 6th of November 1883, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society held its first Chrysanthemum Show in Horticultural Hall in Philadelphia. The Florists and Growers Society had requested it. It was the first of several chrysanthemum events the society presented to the public.

  The American chrysanthemum industry traces back to 1884. The Enomoto brothers of Redwood City, California, grew the first chrysanthemums cultivated in America. In 1913, Sadakasu Enomoto of San Mateo County astounded the flower world by shipping a carload of Turner chrysanthemums to New Orleans for the All Saints Day celebration. New Orleans is the notable exception to the generally positive and cheerful view Americans take of the flower.

  In 1966, Mayor Richard J. Daley recognized the chrysanthemum as the official flower of the city of Chicago. It is also the official flower of Salinas, California. Several fraternities and sororities have adopted it too, including Chi Phi, Phi Kappa Sigma, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Lambda Kappa Sigma, Sigma Alpha and Triangle Fraternity.

  Across the Atlantic, Hill Close Gardens near Warwick holds the UK National Collection of hardy chrysanthemums.

  1339404144

• 8. Garden, Kitchen and Pest Control

  ›

  Over 140 chrysanthemum cultivars have earned the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit, as confirmed in 2017. Modern cultivated chrysanthemums are usually brighter and more striking than their wild relatives. Breeders have produced many rows of ray florets in a great variety of colors beyond the traditional yellow, including white, purple and red.

  The flower heads take many forms. They can be daisy-like or decorative, or shaped like pompons or buttons. The National Chrysanthemum Society in the United States split all cultivars into 13 divisions based on flower form. The most important hybrid is Chrysanthemum x morifolium, also called C. x grandiflorum, which came mainly from C. indicum but involved other species too.

  In parts of East Asia, yellow or white flowers of C. morifolium are boiled to make chrysanthemum tea. In Chinese it is called júhuā chá. In Korea, a rice wine flavored with the flowers is called gukhwaju.

  The leaves are cooked too. Steamed or boiled, they serve as greens, especially in Chinese cuisine. Cooks add the flowers to dishes such as mixian in broth and thick snakemeat soup to enhance the aroma. They are common in hot pot and stir fries. In Japanese cuisine, small chrysanthemums garnish sashimi.

  Pyrethrum, from Chrysanthemum cinerariaefolium or Tanacetum cinerariaefolium, is a major natural source of insecticide. The flowers are pulverized, and the active components, called pyrethrins, are found in the achenes. They are extracted and sold as an oleoresin, which is applied as a suspension in water or oil, or as a powder. Persian powder is one industrial example.

  Pyrethrins attack the nervous systems of all insects and stop female mosquitoes from biting. At sublethal doses they repel insects. They harm fish, yet they are far less toxic to mammals and birds than many synthetic insecticides. They are biodegradable and break down easily in light. Pyrethroids such as permethrin are synthetic insecticides modeled on natural pyrethrum.

  The plant itself still has enemies. Chrysanthemum leaves remain a major host for destructive pests, such as leafminer flies like L. trifolii.

  Indoors, the plants have a quieter use. The NASA Clean Air Study showed that chrysanthemum plants can reduce indoor air pollution.

  1452151627