Marigold Facts
The marigold flower is a favorite in a home garden and a useful bedding plant. This pretty flower has many uses, including medicinal, cosmetic and culinary. |
The wild marsh marigold, the tall African marigold and the French marigold are the most popular varieties of marigold. There is also another variety called the mule marigold, which has been named so because its seed-producing capacity is quite poor.Here are some marigold facts that you may not have known previously.
The ancient Romans named the common or march marigold Calendula officinalis in Latin. This is primarily because the flower blooms on the first day of every month.
The marigold has also made a name for itself in literature, with none other than William Shakespeare having referred to this flower in ‘A Winter’s Tale’, where he mentioned …“The Marigold that goes to bed with the sun, and with him rises weeping”... thisis because for centuries it has been believed that this flower closed at night and opened in the morning.
Since as far back as the 15th century, this flower has been considered a remedy for many medical conditions like jaundice, toothache, sprains, headache, bee sting, wounds and fever. Early Anglo-Saxons often boiled the marigold and extracted the yellow color, which was used to color food, fabric and even as hair dyes. The yellow powder, which remained after extraction, was chemically analyzed by Geiger in 1819, and it was he who named this powder Calendulus. Even today, the marigold flower is dried, and the petals are then ground and used in place of saffron in many rice dishes to color the rice.
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