The Mexican marigold is a popular houseplant by the name Tagetes lucida. It is a plant in the Asteraceae family. The name tagetes is taken from the name of the Roman god, the son or grandson of Jupiter. While Lucida is another word that has a bright or shining meaning. It is a plant native to central America such as Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras. These herbal and ornamental plants are also grown in Unites States and in Mexico. It is a plant that grows well in warm climates all over the planet.
This Mexican marigold plant has many names. Among the many other names of this Mexican are: Cloud Plant, Mexican Tarragon, Mexican Mint Marigold, Mint-Marigold, Spanish Tarragon, Sweet Scent Mexican Marigold, Sweet Scent Marigold, Sweet Mace, Winter Tarragon, Texas Tarragon, yerbaniz, pericón, Yerbis Anis, hierbanís and Cempaxóchitl. This Tagetes plant is cultivated as an ornamental plant and as a medicinal plant.
Plants with the name “Tagetes lucida” or “Mexican tarragon” are very psychoactive plants, and are usually used as incense by the Aztecs in their worship. Now this Tagetes is used as an ingredient in the “Dia de los Muertos” celebration in Mexico. This plant flower is also a material that is considered sacred by Hindu followers. They use the flowers of the tagetes plant in their religious celebrations.
Plant Description
Mexican marigold is a shrub that is half woody and can grow to heights of up to 30 inches. The growth width of this shrub can reach 18 inches. This plant is very fond of soil that is dry and not moist, usually grows on mountain slopes and hills with fertile and sandy soil. Stems erect and smooth and not branched.
Mexican marigold leaves
The length of the leaves can reach 7.6 cm, the shape is linear, oval and located opposite each other. The edges of the leaves are finely serrated, if the leaves are bruised, it will smell like sweet tarragon like fennel. the top of the leaf is shiny green and the bottom looks pale green. On the underside of the Mexican marigold leaves there are tiny oily glands with a distinctive odor.
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Flower
This plant has a yellow flower color and usually blooms in late summer. The diameter of the flowers is about 1.5 cm. Mexican marigold flowers have two sexes in one stem. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have male and female organs in one flower), pollination is usually carried out by insects.
Fruits
Does the mexicant marigold bear fruit? Yes, this plant has small fruit with only one seed in it. The fruit is classified as cypselae. The shape of the fruit is thin and linear. At the end of the fruit there is a protrusion forked. This is called a pappus and is only 1 cm in size. However, Tagetes lucida which is cultivated in Singapore does not bear fruit like in America.
Benefits Of Mexican Marigold And Traditional Uses
- The plant with the name Tagetes lucida is usually planted for medicinal purposes and as an ornamental plant, even many also plant it for culinary needs. Now take a look at what are the health benefits of mexican marigold.
- The leaves and the plant itself are good for digestion, are diuretic. Good as a febrifuge, anesthesia, as a stimulant and as a sedative.
- Mexican marigold is used as a medicine for eye pain, diarrhea, nausea, colic, hiccups, rheumatism, malaria, indigestion, and overcoming fever. Its use is internal.
- When using this plant as medicine you sometimes feel hallucinating and anesthetizing. This is because in its use it suppresses the nervous system.
- There is also an external use, this is to treat pain caused by stinging scorpion, and to get rid of lice.
- In western Mexico, local people use the most tagetes lucida plants in traditional medicine.
- The Indians dry these leaves and plants to make tea. This tea is drunk to treat scorpion stings, fever, ague, is an aphrodisiac and diarrhea.
More Benefits of Tagetes Lucida
- To treat hiccups, the leaves of the Mexican marigold plant are boiled and drunk to give effect to the problem.
- People who are struck by lightning are treated with extracts from the tagetes lucida plant.
- Lucida plants are medicinal plants that are used in treating respiratory disorders, this is done by the Latin American community.
- Mexicans use fresh leaves brewed in hot water as a tea to treat stomach aches, soothe the stomach, and relieve hangover symptoms.
- The juice leaves are used as a health drink among the people of Mexico and mixed with wine, this is drunk as an aphrodisiac drink.
- In India, the leaves of tagetes lucida are squeezed and squeezed to be used as an eczema medicine
- Mexican marigold plants are also made of tea for stimulant benefits
- Since the Spanish colonial era, this plant has been known as an aphrodisiac plant.
- The Mexicans believe this plant can provide and encourage lactation
- Mexican marigold leaves are also useful for repelling insects.
- The ingredients of this plant are also useful as an anti-rheumatism
- In Argentina, the leaves of this plant are used as cough medicine, the way to make a potion is to boil the leaves.
Culinary Uses
After we know the benefits of the Mexican marigold in the world of health, we now lyrics what are the benefits of this plant in the culinary world.
- The leaves and flowers are often consumed
- The petals are used as a spice in cooking
- Mexican marigold flowers are used in making salads
- The leaves smell like fennel are often used in many recipes such as in salads, soup, stews, sauces and as a complement in poultry and fish dishes.
- The dried leaves and flower buds are brewed as a tea which is rich in benefits, tastes like fennel, is pleasant and is a very popular drink in Latin America.
- Mexican marigold leaves are used as a flavoring for ‘chocolatl’, a popular Aztec drink.
- Mexicans often make tea from the buds of mexican marigold
- In Costa Rica, this plant is cultivated on a large scale as a spice, it also contains oils such as anise, and it is also sold in supermarkets as a substitute for tarragon.
- The leaves are ground and powdered, it is a substitute for tarragon. The use of tarragon is as a flavoring for soups, dumplings and others.
- Marigold leaves are also used as a flavoring for sangria, cola, cider, and flavoring in Turky tobacco.
Other Facts Of Maxican Marigold
This is a natural herb that is marketed in Central America, used as a spice for medicine, functions as an insecticide, and is also used as an ornamental plant.
The tagetes lucida plant is considered an important plant in the religious, social, and cultural rituals of the Aztecs from ancient times to today among Mexicans and Guatemalans.
Lucida flower is an important flower in Catholic religious ceremonies in funerals
The flowers are usually used for bow and altar decoration purposes
Now many Mexicans from the Indians who burn mexican marigold flowers to function as incense in front of their homes.
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This plant powder is sprinkled on the faces of prisoners of war who will be sentenced to death, in order to sedate them in facing the death penalty through the burning process.
The Indians from the Sierra Madre of Mexico used the dried plant Tagetes Lucida in cigarette tobacco along with Nicotiana rustica.
When suctioned in a cigarette, this herb functions as a sacred thing in certain ceremonies and this gives a hallucinatory effect.
Dried herbs from the Mexican marigold plant are also offered in front of temples and on sacred sites
They often smoke cigarettes made of corn husks which contain dried leaves and dried flowers of the Lucida plant, sometimes in collaboration with peyotes.
Plants are also burned as incense in order to repel insects.
The yellow color of the Tagetes Lucida flower is used as a dye in the textile world
Tagetes essential oil or marigold essential oil is used in cosmetics, the pharmaceutical industry and in food flavorings.
Side Effects
Actually, no side effects occur, but if the use is inappropriate and excessive, then the possibility of occurring is:
– Can cause bleeding
– Can trigger allergies for some people
– Cause drowsiness
– The sap can cause dermatitis for some people. If you have sensitive skin, then avoid contact with lucida sap.
– Pregnant women and nursing mothers should avoid this plant