Characteristics and Classification of Edible and Garnish Chrysanthemums, Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat

Abstract

Edible chrysanthemums (Shokuyo-giku) are cultivated as a flower vegetable in northern Japan and are gradually becoming more popular in other regions. Garnish chrysanthemums (Tsuma-giku) are commonly used as a garnish served with raw fish. Cultivars used in this investigation were collected mainly from Tohoku district and Niigata and Aichi prefectures. Morphological and ecological characters and petal qualities of 136 cultivars of edible and garnish chrysanthemums were investigated. One hundred and eighteen edible cultivars were collected and arranged into 52 cultivars, and 18 garnish cultivars were arranged into 15 cultivars based on our investigation. These cultivars were classified in some characters as follows.1. The flower of edible cultivars was grouped into 5 color categories, yellow, pink, red, purple and white. The majority of edible cultivars were yellow and pink. However, all garnish cultivars were yellow.2. The shape of the petal of edible cultivers was classified into 3 different types: flat, spoon and tube. These 3 types sometimes occurred separately or 2 types (flat and spoon, or spoon and tube) were mixed in various ratios on each cultivar. All garnish cultivars were flat-type with the exception of one which was spoon type.3. Most edible and garnish cultivars had a pleasant flower odor, but a few do not.4. In general, summer and late summer flowering cultivars were inferior to autumn flowering ones in petal taste according to the test of bitterness and savor. Furthermore, most edible cultivars which had been diverted from ornamentals in recent years were inferior in taste.5. There were variant clones with useful characters in some popular edible cultivars.