Tagetes erecta (Mexican marigold)

Japanese name: アフリカン マリゴールド
Scientific name: Tagetes erecta

[Overview]
An annual 50–100 cm tall.
The leaves and involucre have oil glands, and there is a distinctive strong odor.
It branches well, and the plant spreads somewhat sideways.
The leaves are alternate, deeply pinnately divided, with serrated margins.
Capitula 5–12 cm across are borne at the stem tips, and double-flowered forms are cultivated.
Flower colors include yellow, orange and cream.
The fruit is an achene.

[History]
It had arrived in Japan by the first half of the Edo period.

[Uses]
The flowers are used medicinally.
The flowers are used to flavor salads and the like, and are also used as a dye and as a feed to deepen the yellow of egg yolks.
An essential oil can also be obtained.
Because it is effective in controlling nematodes, it is also used as a companion plant when growing vegetables.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed or by cuttings of shoots.
It grows well in any soil as long as the site is sunny and well drained.
For potted plants, water thoroughly when the soil surface dries; for plants in the ground, rainfall is sufficient unless summer brings a long spell of sunny weather and the soil becomes severely dry.
Too much fertilizer produces only leaves and makes flowering difficult, so unless the soil is very poor, base fertilizer alone is sufficient.
Spider mites can occur.

[Notes]
The name African marigold comes from the fact that, after being introduced to Spain, it spread to northern Africa.

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