茼蒿 tong hao

Chrysanthemum coronarium Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 890. 1753, nom. cons.; C. roxburghii Desfontaines; Glebionis roxburghii (Desfontaines) Tzvelev; Matricaria coronaria (Linnaeus) Desrousseaux; Pinardia coronaria (Linnaeus) Lessing; Pyrethrum indicum Sims (1813), not (Linnaeus) Cassini (1826); Xantophtalmum coronarium (Linnaeus) P. D. Sell.

Herbs, annual, glabrous or almost so; stems erect, 70 cm tall, unbranched or few branched above middle. Basal leaves withered by anthesis; lower and middle stem leaves sessile; leaf blade narrowly elliptic or elliptic-lanceolate in outline, 8-10 × 3-4 cm, 1 or 2(or 3)-pinnatisect or pinnatifid, primary segments 2-4-paired, ultimate lobes ovate or linear; upper stem leaves gradually smaller. Capitula terminal, solitary or few, not forming conspicuous panicle; peduncle 15-20 cm. Involucres cup-shaped, 1.5-3 cm in diam.; phyllaries in 4 rows, inner ca. 1 cm, apex widened, scarious. Ray achenes narrowly 3-winged. Disk achenes 1- or 2-ribbed. Fl. and fr. Sep. 2n = 18*

Widely cultivated as a vegetable. Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Hunan, Jilin, Shandong, Zhejiang [native to the Mediterranean region].

Glebionis coronaria is grown both for its bright yellow florets and the edible young shoots. Various authors include Chrysanthemum coronarium var. spatiosum within this species, but it is better placed within the following species, G. segetum.