Calendula / Marigold


French Marigold Flower

There are two genera of subfamily Astroideae that are commonly called "Marigold", one from the Old World, one from the New World. Ironically, the New World genus now has greater culinary importance then the Old World genus. There are others, including Huacatay, which has greater culinary importance than either of the well known ones.   Photo of French Marigold by i_am_jim distributed under license Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike v4.0 international.

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Calendula - Pot Marigold


Flowering Calendula Plant

[Calendula officinalis of subfamily Asteroideae]

This plant, probably from southern Europe, is well known in North America as a medicinal tea ingredient and for fresh petals scattered on salads to add color interest. Fresh leaves have been used in salads and as a pot herb, but palatability varies with variety. Flowers and sometimes leaves were once commonly used in soups in Germany, thus the name "Pot Marigold".   Photo of C. officinalis by Wildfeuer distributed under license Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike v3.0 unported.

Calendula Petals


Dried Calendula Petals

Buying:

  I have not seen these in markets here in Southern California, even those with the most complete herb sections. They are, however, easily available on the Internet because of their use in medicinal teas. They are sold in two forms, dried petals and dried flowers. For tea, whole flowers are fine, but to use as an herb dried petals, as shown in the photo, are much more usable. The high quality petals in the photo were purchased on-line for US 2013 $2.99 / ounce, plus shipping, which brought them to $4.41 / ounce (3 ounces purchased).

Storing:

  Do not grind until ready to use. In a tightly sealed container stored in a cool place out of direct sunlight, dried petals should last at least 6 months.

Health & Nutrition:

  While this is a medicinal plant, the amounts used in cooking should be entirely harmless. Medicinally, calendula has been found to be antibacterial and antifungal. Apparently, there are other non-medicinal applications - the package the photo specimens came in suggested, "protection, prophetic dreams, legal matters, psychic powers, aids visionary sight", presumably as tea.



French Marigold


French Marigold Flowers [Imeruli Shaphrani (Georgia); Tagetes patula alt Tagates remotiflora]

This plant is native to the highlands of southern Mexico and Guatemala, but has become widespread for decorative, aromatic and culinary uses. In the cuisine of Georgia (former Soviet Republic of), marigold petals (Tagetes patula) are a very important herbal flavoring. The dried petals are very aromatic. Powdered, they add both color and an earthy aroma to many recipes. Marigolds are also fed to chickens to get a nice rich color in the yolks of their eggs. Unfortunately dried petals are very difficult to find in North America. About the only way to get them is to grow your own marigolds. Calendula petals are as close as we can buy. They are aromatic but are not the same.

This plant is often used in gardening as a companion plant, providing some protection against bacteria and insects both above and below ground. It should not be planted near legumes or other nitrogen fixing plants. The essential oil has a number of medicinal uses.   Photo by Dori distributed under license Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike v3.0 unported.



Huacatay


Flowering Huacatay Plant [Black Mint, Muster John Henry, Southern Marigold, Stinking Roger, Wild marigold; Anisillo (Spanish); Chinchilla, Chiquilla, Chilca, Zuico, Suico (South America); Huacatay (Peru); Huacataya (Bolivia); Tagetes minuta]

This plant is native to western South America, but has been naturalized in numerous areas in Australasia, Asia, North America, Europe and Africa. It has a weedy, vertical growth habit up to 6 feet tall. It has long been used as a culinary flavoring and tea in Ecuador, Peru, Chile, and Bolivia. There are also products made from Huacatay that are more available in North America than the fresh plant.   Details and Cooking.   Photo by Paul Venter distributed under license Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike v3.0 unported.

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