Garland Chrysanthemum

APPEARANCE: A casual glance might cause one to mistake chrysanthemum for Chinese cabbage or leaf lettuce. Note, however, that chrysanthemum leaves are bluntly lobed, uniformly green, and rather rough (not shiny smooth). It is usually sold as a small plant, with root still attached, which is never true of cabbage.

QUALITY: Select plants with unblemished crisp leaves, preferably without signs of flowering.

COMMENTS: Technically, according to some experts, the multitudes of cultivated chrysanthemums can be reduced to only two species: one provides flowers (in uncountable varieties created by horticultural selection and breeding), while the other provides vegetables. Within the edible species three varieties exist: one that the Japanese grow for leaves; one that the Chinese grow for leaves; and one that the Chinese grow for flowers, used fresh to garnish snake dishes or dried in tea and herbal medicines.