The leaves are alternate, divided into leaflets and may be pinnatisect, lobed, or serrate (toothed) but rarely entire; they are connected to stalks with hairy bases.

[8][7] The name "chrysanthemum" is derived from the Ancient Greek: χρυσός chrysos (gold) and ἄνθεμον anthemon (flower).

[citation needed] Genera now separated from Chrysanthemum include Argyranthemum, Glebionis, Leucanthemopsis, Leucanthemum, Rhodanthemum, and Tanacetum.

[12] Chrysanthemums (Chinese: 菊花; pinyin: Júhuā) were first cultivated in China as a flowering herb as far back as the 15th century BCE.

Various cultivars of chrysanthemums created in the Edo period were characterized by a remarkable variety of flower shapes.

They were exported to China from the end of the Edo period, changing the way Chinese chrysanthemum cultivars were grown and their popularity.

[citation needed] Chrysanthemums entered American horticulture in 1798 when Colonel John Stevens imported a cultivated variety known as Dark Purple from England.

[citation needed] Over 140 cultivars of chrysanthemum have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit (confirmed 2017).

Yellow or white chrysanthemum flowers of the species C. morifolium are boiled to make a tea in some parts of East Asia.

The resulting beverage is known simply as chrysanthemum tea (菊 花 茶, pinyin: júhuā chá, in Chinese).

The flowers may be added to dishes such as mixian in broth or thick snakemeat soup (蛇羹) to enhance the aroma.

The flowers are pulverized, and the active components, called pyrethrins, which occur in the achenes, are extracted and sold in the form of an oleoresin.

[better source needed][21] In the United States, the flower is usually regarded as positive and cheerful,[22] with New Orleans as a notable exception.

The chrysanthemum has been used as a theme of waka (Japanese traditional poetry) since around the 10th century in the Heian period, and Kokin Wakashū is the most famous of them.

From the Meiji period in the latter half of the 19th century, due to the growing importance of the chrysanthemum, which symbolized the Imperial family, the creation of ogiku style cultivars with a diameter of 20 cm or more became popular.

[34] Culinary-grade chrysanthemums are used to decorate food, and they remain a common motif for traditional Japanese arts like porcelain, lacquerware and kimono.

[32] Chrysanthemum growing is still practised actively as a hobby by many Japanese people who enter prize plants in contests.

Several twentieth century potters, especially Kim Se-yong, created double-wall wares featuring each individual petal painted in white clay against a celadon background.

[41] Italian composer Giacomo Puccini wrote Crisantemi (1890), a movement for string quartet, in memory of his friend Amedeo di Savoia Duca d'Aosta.

In Italy (and other European countries) the chrysanthemum is the flower that people traditionally bring to their deceased loved ones at the cemetery and is generally associated with mourning.