Daisy and Anemone

• Daisy mums are named for their appearance.Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
  
  Daisy mums also are known as single mums for their flat layers of petals and daisylike appearance. The petals radiate out from a solid center and most of these mums are hardy varieties that can withstand cool temperatures and less-than-perfect conditions. Daisy mum cultivars include the "Chesapeake," with its bright yellow petals and center, and "Pink Sonoma," which has bright pink petals and an orange center. Similar to the daisy mum is the anemone mum. These mums have the same structure as the daisy, but the center of the flower is slightly raised to give the bloom the appearance of leaning backward.
  
  

Decorative

• The petals of the incurved mum arch toward the center.Brand X Pictures/Brand X Pictures/Getty Images
  
  The decorative mum has a somewhat flattened appearance with a number of long, slender petals that create a semiconcentric, domelike bloom. When the petals are set close together and arch inward to the center of the bloom they are known as incurved; when the petals are not as tightly woven together but retain the same shape, they are incurving mums. There also are some varieties of mums with petals that fold outward to give the bloom a more open appearance, and these are known as reflexed. Decorative cultivars include the bright orange "Amber Pomona," the yellow "Manhattan," and the bright red "Tobago."
  
  

Pompon

• Pompoms are small, ball-like flowers.Hemera Technologies/PhotoObjects.net/Getty Images
  
  The pompon mum is named for its distinctive shape. When the blooms first begin to open, they have a rather flat appearance. As they mature, the thickly arranged petals give the bloom a completely rounded look, making the pompon mums resemble tight balls of petals on the ends of their stalks. Flowers are typically small, and some have petals that are packed so tightly that the flowers seem stiff to the touch. One of the most brightly colored pompon cultivars is the yellow "Sesquicentennial Sun," developed by the University of Minnesota to commemorate its 150th anniversary.
  
  

Maxi-Mums, Miniature and Cushion

• Maxi-mums are so named because while most other types of mums are small enough to fit in a hanging basket or use as a potted plant, these varieties are the size of shrubs. Growing up to 3 feet tall and wide, these mums can winter through the rough weather of temperate zones and return to bloom so completely they are covered with flowers throughout the summer. The first variety developed is a bright red cultivar called "Betty Lou" in honor of owner of the garden that yielded the parent plants. The shape of the flower is similar to the decorative mums, sporting flowers that can be up to 2.5 inches in diameter. Alternately, there are also some varieties of mums that are miniature, having flowers and a mature size that are smaller than most mums. Cushion mums also typically are smaller, growing profusely on bushes that remain small even when full-grown.
  
  

Quilled, Spider and Spoon

• Quilled and spider types of mums have long petals that have a distinctive, tubular shape. Quill mums have full, rounded blooms with petals growing out to cover all parts of the bloom, even directly up from the center. Spider mums have similarly shaped petals, but these petals grow only on the outside of the bloom to give it the appearance of spider legs. Spoon mums have the same long petals, but the tips of these petals are rounded in a spoonlike appearance.