4.
Tagetes erecta
Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 887. 1753.
African or French marigold
Tagetes patula
Linnaeus;
T. tenuifolia
Cavanilles
Annuals,
10—120+ cm.
Leaf blades
30—120(—250+) mm overall, principal lobes/leaflets 9—25, lanceolate to lance-linear, 15—25(—45+) × 3—8(—12+) mm.
Heads
borne ± singly.
Peduncles
30—100(—150+) mm.
Involucres
10—22+ × (3—)5—12+ mm.
Ray florets
(3—)5—8+ (to 100+ in "double" cultivars); laminae yellow to orange, red-brown (sometimes particolored: yellow/red-brown), or white (some cultivars), ± flabellate to oval-quadrate, (2—)12—18(—25+) mm.
Disc florets
(10—)50—120+; corollas 7—12+ mm.
Cypselae
6—11 mm;
pappi
of 0—2, ± subulate-aristate scales 6—12+ mm plus 2—4 distinct or connate, linear-oblong, ± erose scales 2—6+ mm.
2
n
= 24, 48.
Flowering ± year round. Disturbed sites; 0—1000+ m; Ala., Ark., Calif., Conn., Fla., Ill., Kans., Ky., La., Md., Mass., Mo., N.Y., N.C., Ohio, Okla., Pa., S.C., Utah, Vt., Va., Wis., Wyo.; Mexico.
Cultivars of
Tagetes erecta
are widely grown in gardens and, commercially, for cut flowers. They often persist after abandoned plantings. Tetraploid plants (2
n
= 48) with smaller involucres and wholly or partially red-brown corollas included here in
T. erecta
have been called
T. patula
by some botanists.
