Chrysanthemum

Chrysanthemum, the name of a genus of Compositae containing the common English ox-eye daisy (C. leucanthemum) and corn marigold (C. segetum). The name is, however, more commonly applied to the variable and beautiful species, long cultivated in China, and of late years immensely improved by selection in English gardens, which belongs strictly to the allied genus Pyrethrum, P. sinense being its technical name. The cultivated varieties vary considerably in the form of the leaf, which is generally somewhat mealy, and few, if any, of our garden flowers present an equal range of colour. In form, owing to the elongation of the tubular disk corollas ("quilled"), the asymmetric enlargement of those of the ray ("dragon") and other modifications, we get an almost equal variety; and this variability, coupled with the facts of their flowering in November and December, and their hardiness, fully accounts for their growing popularity.