ABSTRACT
The chrysanthemum has been cultivated for more than 1400 years in China and for at least 1200 years in Japan, and is one of the most popular cut flowers in North America, Western Europe, and Japan. The individual flowers or florets are small and relatively insignificant, but they are collected together into heads to make showy inflorescences. Although botanically the chrysanthemum flower is a floret, the individual capitula are commonly referred to as flowers in horticultural texts. The chrysanthemum is marketed as a cut flower in either “standard” or “spray” form. Chrysanthemum seedlings exhibit a phase of juvenility during which they continue to produce leaves, even when growing in conditions that are normally conducive to rapid flower formation. Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat. is a complex hybrid and its popularity and long history of cultivation have led to the introduction of many thousands of cultivars showing great diversity of flower form and plant habit.
