the previous and more popular Genus name for this plant was Chrysanthemum which is derived from "chrysos" which means gold (Greek) and "anthemon" which means flower (Greek), hence "golden-flower".
coronaria = "corona" = crown, refering to the large flower head (Latin)
Synonyms:
Chrysanthemum coronarium
Remarks:
-
Morphology
PLANT STRUCTURE:
Characteristic
Growth Form
Branching
Surface
Description
Erect :
Upright, vertically straight up well clear off the ground.
Highly Branched :
Numerous branches and sub-branches are present but the common main stem is usually tall and well visible.
Glabrous :
Smooth; without any hairs, bristles or other projections.
General Picture
LEAVES:
Characteristic
Arrangement
Attachment
Venation
Description
Alternate :
Growing at different positions along the stem axis.
Sessile :
Growing directly from the stem; without a stalk.
None :
No prominent venation visible.
General Picture
Characteristic
Leaf Shape
Leaf Margin
Remarks
Description
Multi Pinnate / Pinnatifid :
Compound arrangement of many small, narrow branching and sub-branching leaflets or leaf-lobes which however are not separated into distinct leaflets.
Entire :
Smooth margin without indentations, lobes or any projections. (The tiny, new-growing pinnae may look like as if the outline has sparse teeth).
General Picture
FLOWERS:
Characteristic
Colour
Basic Flower Type
No. of Petals
No. of Sepals
Description
Golden Yellow
Some variaties have the upper half or third of the petal white (G. coronaria var. discolor).
Ray petals around disc florets :
Flowers made up many petals (ray florets) radiating around numerous, packed, tiny flowers (disc florets) seated on a common receptacle.
12-15
20-32
Referring to the phyllaries of the involucre.
General Picture
Characteristic
Inflorescence
Description
Ovary
Stamens
Description
Panicle :
Elongate inflorescence with compound branching forming clusters of flowers.
Bright golden-yellow flower consisting of a cluster of central, yellow disc-florets (maturing from circumference to center) and 12 to 15 radiating golden-yellow petals (ray-florets), which occasionally have white tips.
Inferior :
Ovary situated below the flower parts (the calyx, corolla, and androecium). In other words, these are attached above the ovary.
5, Syngenesious :
Anthers fused together, forming a ring or collar around the central style of every disc floret. Filaments are usually free. Stamens are usually not visible by the naked eye.
General Picture
Characteristic
Scent
Average Flower Size
Pollen Colour
Other Notes
Description
YES
Strong, camomile-like, pleasant scent.
35 mm
(ref. to the whole flower head).
Yolk yellow
-
SEEDS:
Characteristic
No. Per Fruit
Shape
Size
Colour
Description
100-200
(1 per floret, 100-200 florets per flower head).
Achene without Pappus :
A simple, one-seeded, often tooth-shaped fruit without any wind disperal mechanism (pappus). They are found in collective numbers attached to a common receptacle.
2-3mm
Light brown
General Picture
FRUIT AND OTHER BOTANICAL DATA:
Characteristic
Fruit Type
Colour of Fruit
Subterranean Parts
Other Notes
Description
Achenes without pappus :
A group of achenes which have no pappus for wind dispersal. Usually found closely-seated one beside each other on a common flat or dome-shaped receptacle.
Brown
(referring to the achenes colour).
Taproot :
A rooting system where there is the main descending root of a plant having a single dominant large structure from which a network of smaller and long roots emerge.
Scent
The plant, especially the flowers and seeds, gives off a certain strong scent of aromatic chamomille.
General Picture
Specifications & Description
Life Cycle:
Annual.
Habitat:
Fields, Waste ground, soil dumps. Much less common in garigues.
Frequency:
Very Common
Localities in Malta:
Very Common throughout the islands. Could be classified as the most abundant plant during late spring.
This tall, eye catching annual has large flower heads up to 60mm diameter, and frequently grows in abundance creating a mass of golden yellow carpets in many places around Malta and Gozo. Occasionally, some flowers from the other variant are seen. These have a yellow center and whitish outer tips.
Its stems are erect and hairless, and forms numerous compound branches. The oblong or lance-shaped multi pinnate or pinnatifid leaves can be over 10cm long. Each pinna (leaf lobe) can further have smaller lobed projections.
The flower heads are supported by thickened stalks, and overlapping, short, triangular shaped phyllaries, which often have a dark outline. The flower heads have a central flattened, disc-shaped receptacle holding many yellow, tubular disc-florets and the perimeter is outlined by 10-15 ray-florets with large (20mm) golden yellow 'petals'. The reproductive organs (stamens and style) lie within every floret. The 5 stamens are fused together as a singular collar around the style. The florets at the perimeter mature first and those of the center last.
The fruit is a simple tooth-like achene, without a pappus. No particular seed dispersal mechanism. They fall down on the soil and many times they are carried away by ants down into the soil. Each plant forms numerous flowers, and hence it can produce several thousands of seeds.
Information and Details
Nomenclature
The scientific genus name of the plant is recently changed from Chrysanthemum to Glebionis[WWW-26]. Many books and even Internet documents refer to this plant as Chrysanthemum, which was its genus name for many years. However there was a nomenclature update and Chrysanthemum now applies to the Asian genus previously treated as Dendranthema and the two Mediterranean species (C. coranarium and C. segatum) must be treated under the genus name Glebionis. [SL].
Cultivation Notes:
Succeeds in ordinary garden soil [1] , but it prefers a well-drained fertile soil in full sun [200, 206] . It will tolerate light shade in the summer. Tolerates a pH in the range 5.2 to 7.5. Plants do not grow well at temperatures above 25°c, tending to become bitter in hot weather. Plants withstand light frosts [206] . Commonly grown as an ornamental in the West, the var spatiosum is commonly cultivated as a vegetable in China and Japan [200] . There are many named varieties [183] . It takes 4 - 5 weeks from sowing the seed to the first harvest when plants are grown on the cut and come again principle [206] . Plants often self-sow when they are well-sited and the soil is disturbed by hoeing etc. [KF]
Planting:
This plant variety generally cannot be successfully grown in areas where the soil quality is of a poor standard, ie lacking in sufficient nutrients.
This plant variety does not tolerate heavy clay soils.
This variety can be grown in anything from a light to a heavy soil mixture.
For optimal results it is preferable to plant in a well drained soil.
This variety prefers a semi shade to full sun position.
It is preferable to plant this variety in a moist position. [WWW-01]
Medicinal Uses:
The leaves are expectorant and stomachic [218] . In conjunction with black pepper it is used in the treatment of gonorrhea. The flowers are aromatic, bitter and stomachic. They are used as a substitute for camomile (Chamaemelum nobile). The bark is purgative, it is used in the treatment of syphilis. [240]
Derivatives from plant
Consolacion Y. et al discovered that A Bioactive Thiophene Derivative can be derived from from Chrysanthemum coronarium. The abstact says:
"The CHCl3 extract of the air-dried leaves of Chrysanthemum coronarium afforded N-isobutyl-6-(2-thiophenyl)-2,4-hexadienamide (1). The structure of 1 was determined by extensive 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy and high resolution mass spectrometry and comparison with published literature. Antimicrobial tests on 1 by the agar well method indicated that it has low activity against B. subtilis, P. aeruginosa, C. albicans and T. mentagrophytes and is inactive against S. aureus and E coli at a concentration of 20 ?g. Micronucleus test indicated a 66.5% reduction in MPCE induced by Mitomycin C. Thus, 1 is an antimutagen. " [301]
Edible Uses:
Young shoots and stems - raw or cooked [34, 46, 61, 105, 116] . Strongly aromatic [183, 200] , they are used as a flavouring or as a vegetable. Cooked leaves become bitter if overcooked at a high temperature. Young leaves are excellent in salads. The leaves quickly wilt once they have been picked so it is best to harvest them as required [206] . They contain about 1.85% protein, 0.43% fat, 2.57% carbohydrate, 0.98% ash. They are rich in vitamin B1, contain a moderate content of vitamin C and a little vitamin A. [179]
Flowers - raw. Blanched briefly and added to salads [183] . The centre of the flower is bitter so only the petals are normally used [206] . A fragrant pickle known as 'kikumi' is made from the petals in Japan. [183]
Other Uses:
Possibly a good companion plant, protecting neighbouring plants from caterpillars etc. [KF]
There is a report that secretions from the roots can be effective in controlling nematodes in the soil, but this has not been substantiated. [206]
Personal Observations:
This plant is one of the most common plants found around the whole islands of Malta, probably the second one after the Bermuda Buttercup.
It is one of the main plants responsible for the formation a carpet of yellow areas mainly in Feb / Mar.
The white flower variant is not so common - the yellow predominates in Malta. The white-tipped flowers tend to show up and be more common in late Spring
Very strong plant, found even in small quantities in the driest months of June and July.
Flowers have a pleasant smell of camomile
Traditionally children used to play "You love me, love me not" by striping the petals one by one!!! Although flowers are abundant, such education should be discouraged. [SM]
Photo Gallery
IMAGE: GLBCO-01 Photo of golden-yellow, daisy-like flower in situ.
IMAGE: GLBCO-02 There are two variations in the flower, i) the golden yellow flower, which is by far the most common and ii) the white-tipped yellow flower.
IMAGE: GLBCO-03 Close up photo of the yellow flower variant.
IMAGE: GLBCO-04 Close up photo of a variation of the flower having the outer half of the petals (ray-florets) cream or white.
IMAGE: GLBCO-05 Photo of another flower which varies from the normal yellow ones by having the outer half of the ray florets coloured cream or white.
IMAGE: GLBCO-06 Photo of the large conspicuous flower consisting of many tiny central disk florets and about 11-15 peripheral golden-yellow ray florets.
IMAGE: GLBCO-07 Photo of flowers in situ.
IMAGE: GLBCO-08 Dissected flowers- the one on the left is younger from the other. This is showed from the larger number of un-opened central disc florets compared to the mature flower which has nearly all disc-florets opened up.
IMAGE: GLBCO-09 Close up image of capitulum with plenty of disc florets and peripheral ray florets. Note that the flowers at the edge of the receptacle open up first, and blossoming moves towards the center with time.
IMAGE: GLBCO-10 Four close up photos of the flower's centres showing the numerous tiny disk/ray florets. Here it is clearly shown that each floret have 5 petals.
IMAGE: GLBCO-11 Involuvre made up of several overlapping phyllaries each having a dark brown border.
IMAGE: GLBCO-12 Scanned image of the pinnatifid (multi lobed) leaves.
IMAGE: GLBCO-13 Photo of several seedlings taken in mid October 2004. .
IMAGE: GLBCO-14 A common scene in the countryside of Malta - carpeting of the crown daisy.
IMAGE: GLBCO-15 Magnified image under microscope of a single disc floret. The triangular flaps are the corolla lobes = 'true petals'.
IMAGE: GLBCO-16 Magnified image under microscope of Pollen (x400). They have a 'Spiked Ball' shape.
IMAGE: GLBCO-17 Magnified image under microscope of pollen.
IMAGE: GLBCO-18 Scanned image of seeds which are ribbed and tooth-shaped achenes without pappus.
IMAGE: GLBCO-19 Photo of a young plant in situ.
IMAGE: GLBCO-20 Photo of adult plant in situ during the climax of blooming time, hence in March.
IMAGE: GLBCO-21 Photo of several flowers - a common scene in the Maltese countryside and uncropped fields.
IMAGE: GLBCO-22 Magnified image of seeds under light microscope.
IMAGE: GLBCO-23 Magnified image under light microscope of 2 seeds one having a dried disk floret.
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