Tagetes
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 French Marigold
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About 59, including: |
Tagetes is a genus of about 60 species of annual and perennial herbaceous plants in the daisy family (Asteraceae). They are native to the area stretching from the southwestern United States into Mexico and south throughout South America.
They are known almost universally in North America as Marigold (not to be confused with the genus Calendula, which goes by the same name in some areas), or variously as Mexican marigolds (or cempasúchil), African marigolds (usually referring to cultivars and hybrids of T. erecta, although this species is not native to Africa), or French marigolds (usually referring to hybrids and cultivars of T. patula, many of which were developed in France although the species is not native to that country). At least one species is a naturalized weed in Africa, Hawaii, and Australia.
The different species vary in size from 0.05-2.2 m tall. They have pinnate green leaves, and white, golden, orange, yellow, to an almost red floral heads typically (0.1-) to 4-6 cm diameter, generally with both ray florets and disc florets.
The foliage has a musky/pungent scent, though some later varieties have been bred to be scentless. It is said to deter some common insect pests (although it is recorded as a food plant for some Lepidoptera larvae including Dot Moth), as well as nematodes. Tagetes are hence often used in companion planting. T. minuta (Khakibush), originally from South America, has been used as a source of essential oil, known as tagette, for the perfume industry as well as a flavourant in the food and tobacco industries in South Africa, where the species is also a useful pioneer plant in the reclamation of disturbed land. Some of the perennial species are deer, rabbit, rodent and javalina resistant.
The common name, "marigold", is derived from "Mary's Gold", and the plant is associated with the Virgin Mary in Christian stories.
The marigold was regarded as the flower of the dead in pre-Hispanic Mexico, parallel to the lily in Europe, and is still widely used in the Day of the Dead celebrations.
 African Marigold - "Tagetes erecta" |
See also marigold for other plants with this name.
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