From “The Chrysanthemum” in Plant-Hunting in China by Euan Hillhouse Methven Cox:
“As the florist’s Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium)… is certainly the most important plant introduced from Eastern Asia…. Like so many of the Compositae, the genus Chrysanthemum has always been a muddled group. This is proved by the Index Kewensis listing no less than thirty-six genera to which various species of Chrysanthemum have at one time or another been assigned; and no cultivated member of the group has a more obscure early history than the florist’s Chrysanthemum.
“Botanists have identified first one, then another wild-growing Chrysanthemum as the ancestor from which all the garden forms have sprung. It is now clear that these cannot be regarded as simple derivatives of one species, but must be accepted as a complex garden group apparently derived from several species with its exact origin shrouded from ken by the passing of time.
“The foundation of this group may be C. indicum, a misnamed species, as it does not occur in India… although [George] Forrest found it in Yunnan not far from the Burmese frontier. It has small yellow flowers and is widespread in China and south Japan. But evidently other species… have contributed to its immense range of variation.
“Cultivated Chrysanthemums, probably already modified by human care, were introduced from China into Japan in the eighth century A.D., so a Japanese authority, Teizo Niwa, states, and they have ever since been the subject of breeding and selection. The varieties now available exceed 5000. Is it surprising that most of these bear so little resemblance to any one wild species and that their origin should be so uncertain?
“A curious fact about the florist’s Chrysanthemum is that it was in cultivation in Holland about 1688, not in one variety alone but in six, with reddish, white, purple, yellowish, pink and purple-red flowers of great beauty. It was then lost to European gardens for almost exactly a century….”
From “White Chrysanthemum” in Basho’s Haiku: Selected Poems by Matsuo Basho, translated by David Landis Barnhill:
white chrysanthemum:
gazing closely,
not a speck of dust
Hello!
This is the second of two posts with photos of the last batch of white and yellow chrysanthemums that I photoshooted (!!) toward the end of 2025 at Oakland Cemetery. The first post is White Chrysanthemum Variations (1 of 2).
As I did with the previous post, I’ve switched between the two varieties I discovered cohabitating in the same section of Oakland’s landscape in the galleries below. Once again, you should be able to readily observe the characteristics that differentiate these cultivars: the lengths of individual flower petals, and the arrangements of flower clusters at the top of their stems.
I included the quotation from Plant-Hunting in China by Scottish botanist Euan Hillhouse Methven Cox at the top of this post because it added some detail to what I described in the previous post: how the florists or garden mums that are so ever-present today can be traced through a long and complex history that includes their movement to Europe (and the United States) from Japan and China, yet they are largely derived from the same two species: Chrysanthemum morifolium and Chrysanthemum indicum.
And I especially liked the Matsuo Basho haiku. It reminded me how my “gazing closely” takes place in multiple contexts: observing the chrysanthemums from multiple perspectives while out in the wilds of Oakland; taking photographs to capture their images from multiple angles and distances; and spending time (sometimes hours) analyzing the images in Lightroom and using its distraction removal and healing tools until I get versions that contain “not a speck of dust.”
Thanks for taking a look!
