Tagetes erecta or Mexican marigold is a plant of the Asteraceae family, better known as marigold in the United States and cempasuchil in Mexico. It is indigenous to Mexico and may be found in the wild in the following states: Sinaloa, Tlaxcala, Oaxaca, Jalisco, Hidalgo, Veracruz, Yucatan, Campeche, Morelos, Puebla, San Luis Potosi, and Tabasco. It is called x’pujuk in Maya in the latter three states. Countries in Central America are also home to it. It is known in English as African marigold or French marigold, despite its Mesoamerican origins.
Cultural Aspect of the Mexican Marigold
During the Day of the Dead festivities in Mexico, marigolds are used to adorn graves and altars, earning them the nickname “flower of the dead.” On November 1st and 2nd, when people traditionally make sacrifices to the dead, marigolds are utilized with copal, candles, food, and other sorts of flowers. It is thought that if the petals of this flower are laid out in a line from the cemetery to the house where an offering has been prepared for the departed, the soul would be guided to its altar. The flower is called amapola in Colombia and rosa sisa in Peru.
- -> See also: Does Mexico Celebrate Halloween? Mostly Not
Origin and Meaning of the Name
The word “tagetes” is derived from Etruscan mythology, specifically the figure Tages. The word “erecta” in Latin means ‘upright.’ Other names of this plant include Aztec marigold and cempaxochitl.
The name “cempasuchil” originates from the Nahuatl language, where “cempohualxochitl” is composed of “cempohuali,” meaning ‘twenty,’ and “xóchitl,” meaning ‘flower.’ This word also be interpreted as ‘many flowers‘ due to its significance among the indigenous people.
Description of the Mexican Marigold
Mexican marigold is an herbaceous plant that may be annual or perennial, growing to a height of 12 to 43 inches (30–110 cm), and mature in 100 to 120 days with a short day cycle. With a shallow, fibrous structure that is branching, the root resembles a pivot. The stem may be cylindrical, oval-shaped, herbaceous to somewhat woody, striated, smooth, or slightly hairy, and it has resin channels in the bark.
When crushed, the Mexican marigold stem releases a fragrance. The leaves are pinnate, with many spherical glands, acute to acuminate, serrated to subentire, and up to 8 in (20 cm) long and 0.60 in (1.5 cm) broad. They are opposite at the base and alternating at the top. The leaves are lanceolate to linear-lanceolate.
The flowers’ primary characteristic is that they are borne on peduncles up to 6 in (15 cm) long and arranged in heads or single inflorescences. Their ligulate blooms come in a variety of colors, from red to yellow. In solitary heads, there are 150–250 disc blooms. There are different levels of ligule transformation in “double” heads, and the corollas, which are 0.3 to 0.4 in (8–10 mm) long, are yellow to orange.
The fruits and seeds of the Mexican marigold are linear achenes, smooth or slightly coated in stiff hairs at the angles, and range in length from 0.3 to 0.4 in (7–10 mm). It grows quickly from seeds and has a lengthy blooming period that lasts throughout the summer and autumn.
Where Does the Mexican Marigold Grow?
Tagetes erecta or Mexican Marigold is endemic to Mesoamerica, which includes both Mexico and Central America.
Aguascalientes, Chiapas, Campeche, Coahuila, Colima, Mexico City, Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, State of Mexico, Michoacan, Morelos, Nayarit, Puebla, Queretaro, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosí, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, Oaxaca, Veracruz, Yucatan, and Zacatecas are the states where this flower is mainly found in the wild in Mexico. Belize, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela are among the other Central American and Caribbean nations where it is found.
Its natural habitats include deciduous tropical woods, thorn forests, cloud forests, and pine-oak forests. It is found in the Balsas Basin and western Mexico. At elevations between 2600 and 7600 feet (800–2300 m), it is seen in the wild as an escapee from farming in highly disturbed environments.
Mexican Marigold is a cultivated imported plant that is found in Australia, Zambia, South Africa, China, and India.
The Importance of Mexican Marigold
Ethnobotany
Since the naturalist and court physician to the King of Spain Francisco Hernández’s writings on indigenous medicine in New Spain (Americas), documentation of Tagetes erecta’s usage in traditional Mexican medicine has existed.
Stomach discomfort, “empacho,” diarrhea, colic, “stomach chill,” liver diseases, bile troubles, vomiting, and indigestion are just a few of the digestive conditions the Mexican marigold is used to treat in certain parts of Mexico.
The plant is used as a carminative, to combat intestinal parasites, and in intestinal washes. It is used as an antitussive in Tabasco and Guerrero and as a febrifuge in the southern Mexican states of Yucatan, Tabasco, Oaxaca, and Veracruz. Other applications include respiratory disorders such as colds, flu, bronchitis, and nasal congestion, as well as gynecological difficulties.
The word fear, poor air, and shock are all culture-bound syndromes that this remedy is intended to address.
Medical and Nutritional Uses
Tagetes erecta gets its vibrant hues from a group of carotenoids, the most prominent of which being lutein. Cataract and macular degeneration prevention have both been linked to lutein. Thus, foods having this natural pigment should be included in the diet rather than the artificially colored ones.
A larger concentration of carotenoids is associated with the petals’ more intense orange tones in Mexican marigold. Research on these substances suggests they may be useful in warding against cardiovascular disease, heart attacks, inflammatory reactions, senescence, and cancer.
As an Antioxidant
The essential oil of this plant has been shown to have antioxidant action, but at a lesser level than -tocopherol. This may be owing to the presence of camphor and methyl eugenol.
Dye
Lutein may be recovered from the petals of Tagetes erecta using organic solvents. The food sector uses this extract to create a vibrant yellow hue. After the petals have been dried, the oleoresin (a semi-solid extract) is removed in order to remove the lutein, lutein ester, carotenoids, and waxes, which are all chemical compounds.
Insecticide
To protect crops against the nematode species Pratylenchus penetrans (a species of worm), which causes damage to tomato plants, Mexican marigold is employed in agriculture. Its excellent stability also makes it useful for testing and developing novel natural and synthetic fertilizers.
Farming of Fowl
The flower’s natural pigment and organic ingredient are used to feed chickens, resulting in eggs with richer yolk colors.
Growth
The numerous varieties of the Mexican marigolds are used in gardens for their decorative value. Although Tagetes erecta was first cultivated in Mexico, now China, India, and Peru are the top three countries producing this flower worldwide.
The cultivation and display of such plants in Mexico has gained widespread acceptance in recent years. Since the year 2000, there has been a rise in the demand for marigolds as decorations for the Day of the Dead celebrations.
Ancient indigenous farming in Mexico resulted in many variants of the T. erecta plant. However, owing to a lack of systematic study, there has been a lack of particular enhancements, such as choosing compact plants with double blooms for decorative reasons.
Differences in pigments, colors, plant size, scent, and pest resistance are connected to varied human and environmental settings, but there is no germplasm bank to collect and study these variations.
Taxonomy
The classification of Tagetes erecta was established by Carl Linnaeus and documented in Species Plantarum, volume 2, page 887, in the year 1753.
Various names have been associated with Tagetes erecta, including:
- Tagetes corymbosa Sweet
- Tagetes erecta var. Erect
- Tagetes ernstii H.Rob. & Nicolson
- Tagetes excelsa soule
- Tagetes heterocarpha Rydb.
- Tagetes major Gaertn. Nom. illeg.
- Tagetes patula L.
- Tagetes patula var. Patula
- Tagetes patula f. patula
- Tagetes remotiflora Kunze
- Tagetes tenuifolia Millsp.
History
Although other members of the Tagetes genus have a more comprehensive archeological record of usage by pre-Hispanic cultures, Tagetes erecta has just a rudimentary one. For instance, chemical analysis of incense discovered in the ruins of the Templo Mayor in Mexico City has confirmed the Aztecs’ ceremonial usage of the fragrant herb Tagetes lucida, often known as yauhtli. There are several different Tagetes species, and the Nahuatl word “cempoalxochitl” may be used to designate to any of them:
Tagetes erecta, Tagetes lucida, Tagetes patula, Tagetes lunulata, Tagetes tenuifolia, Tagetes peduncularis, and Tagetes elongata.
This intricacy in language makes it tough to identify between various species. Yet, it seems that Tagetes erecta was mainly meant when this word was used.
It has been suggested that the flowers shown in Aztec art, such as those on the Coyolxauhqui Stone, are Tagetes erecta, and that they serve as a sign of the goddess’ might or mortality. They may possibly be Tagetes patula, since they are shown on a necklace worn by a plant goddess on a vase discovered in the Templo Mayor.
The Spanish conquest of Mexico in the early 16th century resulted in a proliferation of written accounts of Tagetes erecta’s ceremonial and therapeutic use. The missionary Bernardino de Sahagún’s “Florentine Codex: General history of the things of New Spain” is a primary text that describes the Mexican Marigold flower:
These flowers that are called cempoalxóchitl, are yellow and of good smell, and wide and beautiful, that they are born, and others that sow them in the orchards; They are of two ways, some that call females cempoalxóchitl and they are big and beautiful, and others that there are called males cempoalxóchitl they are not so beautiful nor so big. — Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New Spain, Chapter XI, Section 9, Page 216
Sahagún also writes that Mexican Marigold was used in the ceremonies of the Aztec holiday Tecuilhuitontli (the name of the seventh month), which paid tribute to the yellow-colored salt (water) deity Huixtocihuatl. The deity was honored with offerings of Mexican Marigold and Artemisia mexicana.
At least seven different kinds of flowers are listed under the name cempoalxochitl in the General History of the Things of New Spain by physician Francisco Hernández. It was the greatest of these species, which the Spaniards called clavel de indias (carnation of the Indies. The medical benefits were also mentioned by him:
“They all have leaves resembling tansy, yellow flowers, or yellow with some reddish tinge, with a temperament hot and dry to the third degree, bitter taste, subtle parts, and somewhat strong odor. They possess resolving and opening virtue; the juice of the leaves taken, or the leaves themselves crushed and taken with water or wine, temper the cold stomach, induce menstruation, urination, and sweating, dispel chills of intermittent fevers if applied a little before the onset, relieve flatulence, stimulate venereal appetite, cure weakness resulting from cold temper of the liver, open obstructed passages, relax contracted limbs, alleviate dropsy, induce vomiting when taken with warm water, and cure the chills of fevers and even the fevers themselves by expelling the cause through urine and sweat.” — Book IV, Chapter CLXXIX, Volume II of New Spain’s Natural History
In his 16th-century work, History of the Indies of New Spain and Islands of Tierra Firme, Diego Durán describes cempasuchil, which he names cempoalxochitl, as an offering made to the goddess Cihuacōātl and subsequently to Huītzilōpōchtli, whose religion was tied to the former. The Huey Tecuilhuitl festival honored this rite. Women wearing these flowers danced beside a figure they believed to be the goddess but who they gave the name Xilonen, the maize goddess.
“[…] All the women and maidens came out together, with their hair spread and cut above the eyebrows, wearing large garlands of yellow roses which they called ‘cempoalxochitl.’ They were adorned with splendid ornaments, their arms feathered with elegant feathers, and wore gold earrings and stones with roses in their hands […]. After the dance, they took all those garlands of roses and strings with which they had danced and ascended the temple of Huītzilōpōchtli as the first fruits of those roses, because they were not seen until then. They called this ceremony ‘xochipaina,’ which means the hastening of these roses. They also called it ‘xochicalaquia,’ which means offering and bringing roses to the temple as a tithe or first fruit.” — History of New Spain’s Indies and the Islands of the Continent by Fray Diego Durán. We are now in Chapter XCI.
European herbalists started to classify plants from the genus Tagetes about the middle of the 16th century. It is indicative of the misunderstanding surrounding the true origin of these plants that Leonhart Fuchs, in his 1542 book Notable Commentaries on the History of Plants, only mentioned Tagetes patula under the name Tagetes indica, instead of T. erecta. The word “tagetes,” which the famous Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus would use two centuries later, was originally used by him. Flemish physician and botanist Matthias de L’Obel is credited with being the first to write about T. erecta. He gave it different names in his book Plantarum seu stirpium historia, thinking that the flower originated in North Africa.
Featured Image: Joanna Boisse, cc by sa 4.0, cropped.
