Calendula officinalis L.   Asteraceae (Sunflower Family)   Southern Europe   Pot Marigold

                                  April Photo 

Plant Characteristics:  More or less hairy annual 1-2 ft. high; lvs. thickish, oblong to oblong-obovate, 2-6 in. or more long, entire or minutely and remotely denticulate, more or less clasping; heads solitary, on stout stalks, showy, 1.5-2 or 4 in. across, the flat spreading rays white-yellow to deep orange, closing at night, blooming the whole season; sometimes the plant is proliferous from the involucre, bearing several peduncled heads in a circle; ray-achenes glabrous, incurved; disk fls. infertile; pappus none.

Habitat:  A common flower garden annual; also grown under glass for winter bloom.  Escape from cultivation in disturbed, urban, coastal areas; below 500 m.

Name:  Latin, calendae or calends, throughout the months.  (Bailey 1016).  Officinalis, officinal, medicinal, recognized in the pharmacopea.  (Bailey 19).

General:  Rare in the study area having been found only in the creek bed at 23rd St., this in 1993.  There were two plants, the seeds of which, were probably carried down stream from the Cherry Lake area above.  (my comments).        The flower heads of C. officinalis are said to have been used sometimes for flavoring in cookery.  (Bailey 1016).       Calendulas date back to early Roman times and were cultivated in England before 1573.  It was reported that those who partook of marigolds would be more amorous, see fairies, or be induced to sleep.  (Clarke 243).        Native origin unknown.  (Hickman, Ed. 218).      A salve made from the dried flowers and fresh leaves of C. officinalis, boiled in lard is a homeopathic remedy for rough, dry or chapped skin.  (Meyer 80 and from the printing on the tube of salve found at Mother's Kitchen in Costa Mesa, 1995.)

Text Ref:  Bailey 1016;  Hickman, Ed. 218; Munz, Flora So. Calif. 132.

Photo Ref:  April 2 93 # 19A, 20A.

Identity: by R. De Ruff, confirmed by John Johnson.  

First Found:  April 1993.

Computer Ref:  Plant Data 449

No plant specimen.

Last edit 11/28/03.

                                             April Photo