Why is the mum still a mystery?

By Chelsie Vandaveer

November 14, 2002

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The origin of the common mum (Chrysanthemum X morifolium Ramatuelle a.k.a. Dendranthema X grandiflora Tzvelev) is lost to history. The second of China's 'Four Most Graceful Plants' is believed a complex hybrid of Chrysanthemum indicum, C. japonense, C. makinoi, and C. ornatum. According to Paul Barlow (Chrysanthemum Facts, 2001), M. Blancard of Marseilles first successfully imported mums from China in 1789.

Football Mums Mellow Moon (cream) Fantastic blooms measure up to 8 in. across!

Forms spreading mounds of foliage covered with enormous double blooms from late summer until frost. Provides long-lasting color atop 24-30 in. stems. An impressive choice for cut-flower arrangements.

Thrives in full sun and fertile soil, extremely easy to grow. Potted plants. Zone 4 to 10 Click here - $20 off at Henry Fields Seed and Nursery! [More Mums]

Centuries of the gardeners' touch have given the world twenty-one colors and eight basic flower shapes. The common mum has been bred along two blurred lines--the hardy garden mum and the florists' mum. The florists' mum blooms eight to fourteen weeks after the day-length shortens to twelve hours or less, the hardy mum produces flowers after five to seven weeks of short days and grows stolons that resist frost heave.

In the 1930s, M. Kh. Chailakhyan experimented with Chrysanthemum indicum, one of the mum's parents. The experiment tested exposure to light on various parts of the plant. According to Raven, Evert, and Eichhorn (Biology of Plants, 5th ed. 1992), "[I]f the upper portion of the plant is defoliated and the leaves on the lower part are exposed to a short-day...period, the plant will flower. If, however, the upper, defoliated part is kept on short day and the lower, leafy part on long days, no flowering occurs." The leaves were assumed to produce a hypothetical hormone named florigen or 'flower maker'.

Experiments on the cockleburr, also a short-day plant, uncovered and elucidated the activity of the phytochromes. (See Weird Plants, May 9, 2002) But florigen has never been discovered; tests with other plant hormones have not reproduced the mum's flowering response. Why short days stimulate the mum to flower has never been solved.

The Department of Landscape Architecture and Horticulture at Temple University has posted a beautiful series of some of the flowers of the common mum. To view these photographs, click on the links:

Dendranthema x grandiflora cascade

Dendranthema x grandiflora standard

Dendranthema x grandiflora 10-year old bonsai

Dendranthema x grandiflora cushion plant decorative

Dendranthema x grandiflora decorative

Dendranthema x grandiflora informal decorative

Dendranthema x grandiflora spider

Dendranthema x grandiflora spoon

Dendranthema x grandiflora anemone

Series: | 1 | | 2 | | 3 | | 4 |

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Mums, Football Special

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Get one each of the football mums.

Stadium Queen: Scarlet with copper accents
Mellow Moon: Cream
Cornhusker: Red with bronze reverses
Pat Lehman: Ligh salmon pink
Gold Country: Golden yellow
Fancy Free: Lavender

Forms spreading mounds of foliage covered with enormous double blooms from late summer until frost. Provides long-lasting color atop 24-30 in. stems. An impressive choice for cut-flower arrangements. Thrives in full sun and fertile soil, extremely easy to grow. Potted plants. Zone 4 to 10 Click here for $20 off at Henry Fields Seed and Nursery!
[More Mums...] [More Perennials...]

Bold Painted Daisies

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Chrysanthemum coccineum – Perfectly formed sunbursts in brilliant shades of red, pink or white perk up gardens from early to midsummer. A mixture of dazzling blooms with gold centers atop 12-36" stems. Plant 12-18" apart. Mixed colors. Click here for $20 off your first order at Spring Hill Nursery!

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Little Miss Muffet Daisy

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Chrysanthemum maximum nanium 'Silver Princess' – Most beloved of all daisies. These dainty white and yellow blooms are a favorite perennial of American gardeners. Easy-to-grow, 12-18" mound-shaped plants dazzle in the sun to charm every beholder from late spring to early summer. Space 12-18" apart. Zone 4 to 9 Click here for $20 off your first order at Spring Hill Nursery!

[More Mums...] [More Perennials...]