COMMON NAME: CHRYSANTHEMUM

SCIENTIFIC NAME: CHRYSANTHEMUM INDICUM

HISTORY: Carl Linnaeus a Swedish doctor and naturalist

named it from the Greek word chrysous,

‘golden’ and anthemon, meaning flower.

DESCRIPTION:

This plant comes in many different spesies.The flower has a wide variety of colours such white, yellow, gold, pink, lavender , red, bronze and purple.It can grow up to 2-3 feet high. It also comes in many different shapes and are grouped by their petal arrangement. Its petals are soft with long stems.

COMMONLY GROWN:

The flower is cultivated and grown in China as a flowering herb. The flower was first introduced to Japan and was later brought to Europe. It is now grown in many places and can be found in most parts of Asia and northeastern Europe.

HOW IS IT GROWN:

The plant has to be

planted in early spring or any other time as long as they establish their root system before the hottest weather. They grow best under full sunshine with plenty of food and moisture. The plant can be grown in two ways.

Strip the lower half of the leaves from a 4-6 inch healthy cutting. 3 / 4 part of will be inserted about one inch deep into sterile moist sand, vermiculite or sphagnum moss. Create a mini-greenhouse over the container with poly film over a wire frame and place it in a bright spot and NOT under full sun until the roots form.

Chrysanthemum seeds should be sown into the prepared soil where they are to bloom at least 2 months prior to the first frost. The temperature of the rooting medium must be kept at a constant 70-75degrees.

MEDICINAL VALUES:

Extracts of the Chrysanthemum plants, flower and stem, have a wide variety of potential medicinal properties, including anti-HIV-1, antibacterial and antimycotic.

OTHER VALUES:

v Culinary uses

Dried chrysanthemum flowers

Yellow or white chrysanthemum flowers are boiled to make a sweet drink. The resulting beverage is known simply as “chrysanthemum tea” .Chrysanthemum tea has many medicinal uses including an aid in recovery from influenza.

v Environmental uses

Chrysanthemum plants have been shown to reduce indoor air pollution by the NASA Clean Air Study.

v Insecticidal uses

The plant is also important as a natural source of insecticide. One of the safest insecticides for use around food. The pulverized flowers contain an 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 .When not present in amounts fatal to insects, they still appear to have an insect repellent effect. They are harmful to fish, but are far less toxic to mammals and birds. They are also biodegradable and break down easily on exposure to light.

GROUP 9

Uva

Xiow Yee

Huda