Tagetes minuta
Wild marigold, Wild Marigold
(c) Adrienne van den Beemt, some rights reserved (CC BY) · licence
Family: Asteraceae · Type: Herb · Not Native
Tagetes minuta (Wild marigold) is a non-native California herb in the Asteraceae family.
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.
Identification and appearance
Key characters: 1 sympatric species; key differentiators are ray size (1-2mm vs 10-30mm) and peduncle structure
Habitat and range
Habitat: Disturbed places
Elevation: < 1000 m
Outside California: eastern United States, Africa, Australia, native to western South America
Bloom period
Tagetes minuta blooms Jun, Nov.
How to tell it apart
vs Lantana: Lantana has opposite leaves and tubular flowers in rounded clusters, not daisy-like heads; vs Calendula: Calendula's bracts are separate overlapping scales, not fused into a cup; vs Bahiopsis: Bahiopsis has separate overlapping bracts and lacks the strong marigold scent; vs Eriophyllum: Eriophyllum has woolly gray foliage and separate bracts, not fused tubes; vs Bidens: Bidens has separate bracts and seeds with 2-4 barbed awns, not scales
Frequently asked questions
Is Tagetes minuta native to California?
No. Tagetes minuta is not native to California (recorded as not native).
When does Tagetes minuta bloom?
Tagetes minuta blooms Jun, Nov.
What plant family does Tagetes minuta belong to?
Tagetes minuta is in the Asteraceae family, genus Tagetes.
What habitat does Tagetes minuta grow in?
Tagetes minuta grows in Disturbed places.
Related species
Other California species in the same genus, family, or bioregion.
Sources: Jepson eFlora · CalPhotos
Last updated 2026-10-07
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Cal-IPC, and more.