UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
BULLETIN No. 795 ^ 
Contribution from the Bureau of Chemistry \J 
„C\T£«Sr CARL L. ALS3ERG, Chief W 
Washington, D. C. PROFESSIONAL PAPER July 28, 1919 
THE ADULTERATION OF INSECT POWDER WITH 
POWDERED DAISY FLOWERS (CHRYS- 
ANTHEMUM LEUCANTHEMUM L.). 
By R. C. Roark, Assistant Chemist for the Insecticide and Fungicide Board, 
Insecticide and Fungicide Laboratory, Miscellaneous Division, and G. L. 
KeenaSt, Microanalyst for the Insecticide and Fungicide Board, Micro- 
chemical Laboratory. 
CONTENTS. 
Page 
Adulteration of insect powder 1 
Uses for Chrysanthemum Leucanthemum 2 
-Insecticidal action of Chrysanthemum Leu- 
canthemum 3 
Page. 
Chemistry of Chrysanthemum. Leucan- 
themum 3 
Morphology of Chrysanthemum Leucan- 
themum 6 
Summary 8 
ADULTERATION OF INSECT POWDER. 
Almost from the time that it first appeared as an article of com- 
merce, insect powder has been subjected to adulteration with a great 
variety of substances. Flowers of other plants of the family Com- 
posite naturally suggested themselves for this purpose, particularly 
those of the genus Chrysanthemum, to which the three species of genu- 
ine insect flowers 1 belong. Of all the species of Chrysanthemum, C. 
Leucanthemum probably has been one of those most often utilized for 
the sophistication of insect powder, and in the course of the ex- 
amination of commercial insect powders for the Insecticide and Fungi- 
cide Board, its presence has been frequently detected. This plant, 
popularly known as "ox-eye daisy," "field daisy," "white weed," and 
1 "Insect powder" consists of the powdered flower heads of any of the following species of 
Chrysanthemum: (1) Chrysanthemum (Pyrethrum) cinerariwfolium (Trev.) Bocc. ; (2) Chrys- 
anthemum (Pyrethrum) raseum Web and Mohr. ; (3) Chrysanthemum Marshallii Aschers 
(synonym, Pyrethrum carneum M. B.) (Insecticide Decision 1, Insecticide and Fungicide Board, 
U. S. Department of Agriculture, August 26, 1911). At the present time all of the insect 
powder obtained in the United States is of the first named species. 
