Calendula arvensis
| Calendula arvensis | |
| Light: |  |
| Moisture: |  |
| Hardiness: | 6 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Height: | 1' |
| Blooms: | Early Summer-Late Fall |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Calendula arvensis (common name: field marigold)
Propagation: Seed - sow in situ from spring to early summer and again in September. The seed germinates best in darkness and usually within 1 - 2 weeks at 21°c[1].
Cultivation: An easily grown and very ornamental plant, it succeeds in any well-drained soil[2], though it prefers a good loam and does best in a sunny or at least partially sunny position[3][4][2]. The plant flowers best when it is grown in a poor soil.
Plants usually self-sow quite freely in the garden.
Range: Europe. A garden escape in Britain[5].
Habitat: Fields, vineyards and waste ground[6].
Edibility: Young shoots and leaves - raw or cooked[7][8][9][10]. The leaves are very rich in vitamins and minerals, they are similar to Taraxacum officinale (Dandelion) in nutritional value[11].
Medicinal: The leaves are diaphoretic[12][13].
The flowers are said to be antispasmodic, emmenagogue and stimulant[13].
The plant seems to have similar therapeutic properties to pot marigold, C. officinalis[14]. These properties are:-
Pot marigold is one of the best known and versatile herbs in Western herbal medicine and is also a popular domestic remedy[3][14]. It is, above all, a remedy for skin problems and is applied externally to bites and stings, sprains, wounds, sore eyes, varicose veins etc[3][14]. It is also a cleansing and detoxifying herb and is taken internally in treating fevers and chronic infections[3][14]. Only the common deep-orange flowered variety is considered to be of medicinal value[3].
The whole plant, but especially the flowers and the leaves, is antiphlogistic, antiseptic, antispasmodic, aperient, astringent, cholagogue, diaphoretic, emmenagogue, skin, stimulant and vulnerary[3][15][16][17][18][19][20]. The leaves can be used fresh or dried, they are best harvested in the morning of a fine sunny day just after the dew has dried from them[3]. The flowers are also used fresh or dried, for drying they are harvested when fully open and need to be dried quickly in the shade[3].
A tea of the petals tones up the circulation and, taken regularly, can ease varicose veins[20].
An application of the crushed stems to corns and warts will soon render them easily removable[15].
The leaves, blossoms and buds are used to make a homeopathic remedy[21]. It is used internally in order to speed the healing of wounds[21].
Pollinators: Bees
Soil: Can grow in light, medium, and heavy soils.
Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.
Seed Ripens: Late Summer-Late Fall
Flower Type: Monoecious
Links
References
- ↑ Bird, R. Growing from Seed Volume 3. Thompson and Morgan, 1989.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Grieve, Margaret. A Modern Herbal. Penguin, 1984.
- ↑ Bryan, John and Coralie Castle. Edible Ornamental Garden. Pitman Publishing, 1976.
- ↑ Clapham, Arthur and Tom Tootin, Edmund Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press, 1962.
- ↑ Polunin, Oleg. Flowers of the Mediterranean. Hogarth Press, 1987.
- ↑ Tanaka, Tyōzaburō. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing, 1976.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Kunkel, Günther. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books, 1984.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Facciola, Stephen. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, 1990.
- ↑ Les Ecologistes de l'Euzière. Les Salades Sauvages. 1994.
- ↑ Read, Bernard. Famine Foods Listed in the Chiu Huang Pen Ts'ao. Taipei Southern Materials Centre, 1977.
- ↑ Usher, George. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable, 1974.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Chopra, R. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants. Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi, 1986.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 Chevallier, Andrew. The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants. Dorling Kindersley, 1996.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Chiej, Roberto. Encyclopaedia of Medicinal Plants. MacDonald, 1984.
- ↑ Launert, Edmund. Edible and Medicinal Plants. Hamlyn, 1981.
- ↑ Lust, John. The Herb Book. Bantam Books, 1983.
- ↑ Uphof, Johannes. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim, 1959.
- ↑ Mills, Simon. The Dictionary of Modern Herbalism.
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 Allardice, Pamela. A-Z of Companion Planting. Cassell Publishers, 1993.
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 Castro, Miranda. The Complete Homeopathy Handbook. Macmillan, 1990.