Dendranthema arcticum, (L.) Tzvelev

Tutin, T. G., Heywood, V. H., Burges, N. A., Moore, D. M., Valentine, D. H., Walters, S. M. & Webb, D. A., 1976, Flora Europaea. Volume 4. Plantaginaceae to Compositae (and Rubiaceae), Cambridge University Press : 169

2. D. arcticum (L.) Tzvelev , op. cit. 386 (1961)

( Chrysanthemum arcticum L. ).

Herbaceous, with creeping woody rhizome. Stems 10-25 cm, erect or ascending, simple, leafy, glabrous below, somewhat pubescent above. Leaves fleshy, not markedly glandular-punctate, glabrous or subglabrous; basal and lower cauline subpinnatifid, the lamina 35-45 x 25-30 mm, cuneate, with 3-5 apical lobes or teeth, the petiole 50-80 mm, narrowly winged; upper cauline reduced, subentire, sessile. Capitula 12-25 mm in diameter, solitary. Ligulate florets 8-20 mm, white. Achenes 1 -5-2-2 mm, without epicarpic mucilage-cells. Stony tundra and seashores. Arctic Russia. Rs (N).

The European plant is subsp. polare (Hultén) Heywood , Bot. Jour. Linn. Soc. 71: 272 (1976) ( Chrysanthemum arcticum subsp. polare Hultén , Dendranthema hultenii (A. & D. Love) Tzvelev ), which differs from subsp. arcticum in its smaller stature, simple stems, cuneate basal leaves glabrous at the base and shorter ligules with 4-5 veins.

Related species which are widely cultivated for ornament are D. indicum (L.) Desmoulins , Actes Soc. Linn. Bordeaux 20: 562 (1855) and D. morifolium (Ramat.) Tzvelev in Schischkin & Bobrov, Fl. URSS 26: 373 (1961) and numerous cultivars derived from them. These are the autumn-flowering chrysanthemums of horticulture.