Tagetes minuta

Wild marigold, Wild Marigold

Family: Asteraceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Wild marigold is a naturalized annual herb found in southern Sierra Nevada Foothills, southern San Joaquin Valley, southern Coast Ranges, southern California, and western Transverse Ranges in disturbed places at elevations below 1,000 meters. Flowering from June to November, this plant produces pale yellow flowers in small heads with inconspicuous ray flowers 1 to 2 millimeters long. Growing with erect glabrous stems 20 to 100 centimeters tall, it spreads readily in disturbed landscapes. Its compound leaves have serrated leaflets that release a distinctive aromatic scent when crushed. The fruit is 4.5 to 7 millimeters long with a pappus of small scales.

Habitat: Disturbed places

Bloom period: Jun, Nov

Elevation: < 1000 m

Bioregions: s SNF, s SnJV, SnFrB (extirpated), s SCoRO, SCo, w WTR

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.