Scientific Name: Tagetes erecta (incl. hybid cvs.)
Common Name: African marigold
Family Name: Asteraceae
Origin: Central America, Garden origin, Mexico
Hardiness Zone: Zone 9: (-7 to -1 °C)
Plant Type: Annual (grown as)
Mature Size: 0.4 - 0.7m x 0.3 - 0.6m (height x width)
Habit: Stiffly upright
Form: Oval - vertical
Texture: Medium - fine
Landscape Uses: Attract beneficial insects, Attract butterflies, Bedding plant, Fragrance, Group or mass planting, Summer interest
Exposure: Full sun
Soil or Media: Well-drained
Leaves: Compound, Alternate, Soft flexible, Glabrous, Distinctive smell, Odd-pinnate, Lanceolate, Serrate
Flowers: Head (capitulum), White, Orange, Yellow, May-Jun-Jul-Aug-Sep-Oct
Fruit: Achene, Brown, Black, Oct
Key ID Features:
Glabrous annual plant, 30-50(-120)cm tall, stems angular; leaves pinnately compound, 5-10cm long with 11-17 leaflets, lanceolate, 1-3cm long, margins sharply toothed, sparse dark glands on lower surface; heads 5-10cm wide, rounded, usually double, commonly yellow to orange (red and cream to white bicolour cultivars exist), aromatic when crushed.