Chrysanthemum

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Chrysanthemums are a genus (Chrysanthemum and northeastern) of about 30 species of perennial flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, native to AsiaEurope.
 

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 which feed on Chrysanthemum.

Culinary uses

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". 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.

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, shungiku, or ssukkat.

In China, the greens are often stir-fried simply with garlic and dried chili peppers. The colour of the cooked greens is dark, their texture dense and mucilaginous, and their flavour fragrant and complex.

Insecticidal uses

Pyrethrum (Chrysanthemum [or Tanacetum] cinerariaefolium from biting. When not present in amounts fatal to insects, they still appear to have an ) 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 mosquitoesinsect repellent effect. They are harmful to fish, but are far less toxic to mammals and birds than many synthetic insecticides and 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.)