Marigold
Tagetes - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tagetes erecta
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaTagetes erecta - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaTagetes erecta, the Mexican marigold, also called Aztec marigold, is a species of the genus Tagetes native to Mexico and Central America. Despite its being native to the Americas, it is often called African marigold.[1][2] In Mexico, this plant is found in the wild in the states of San Luis Potosí, Chiapas, State of México, Puebla, Sinaloa, Tlaxcala and Veracruz. This plant reaches heights of between 50 and 100 cm. The Aztecs gathered the wild plant as well as cultivating it for medicinal, ceremonial and decorative purposes. It is widely cultivated commercially with many cultivars in use as ornamental plants.[3]
Its Flower, the cempasúchil is also called the Flower of the Dead in Mexico ("Flor de Muertos") and is used in the Día de los Muertos celebration every November 2nd. The word cempasúchil (also spelled cempazúchil) comes from the Nahuatl term for the flower zempoalxochitl, literally translated as "twenty flower". Water infused with the fragrant essential oil of the flower was used to wash corpses in Honduras, and the flower is still commonly planted in cemeteries.[4]
Tagetes patula
Mary + gold from Middle English golde (“marigold”).
The French marigold (Tagetes patula) is a species in the daisy family (Asteraceae). In spite of its name, it is native to South America.
The pot marigold, Calendula officinalis.
It is a short-lived aromatic perennial plant, growing to 80 cm tall, with sparsely branched lax or erect stems. The leaves are oblong-lanceolate, 5–17 cm long, hairy on both sides, and with margins entire or occasionally waved or weakly toothed. The inflorescences are yellow, comprising a thick capitulum or flowerhead 4–7 cm diameter surrounded by two rows of hairy bracts; in the wild plant they have a single ring of ray florets surrounding the central disc florets. The disc florets are tubular and hermaphrodite, and generally of a more intense orange-yellow colour than the female, tridentate, peripheral ray florets. The flowers may appear all year long where conditions are suitable. The fruit is a thorny curved achene.[1][3]
Synonyms include Calendula officinalis var. prolifera. Other recorded English names include Ruddles, Common Marigold, Garden Marigold, English Marigold, and Scottish Marigold.[3]
