Marigold
Calendula
- Known today as
- Calendula officinalis, the pot marigold.
- Kind
- Plant, in 2 older authorities
- Constituents
- faradiol esters, calendulosides, lutein and zeaxanthin, and 1 more
- Earliest authority here
- Its names
- In other databases
- Plants of the World Online search · GBIF search · Wikidata search
Revised October 1, 2026: Tradition, lore, modern assessment, and sources extended. Version 1, first published September 25, 2026.
Marigold: what was it used for?
To comfort the heart, bring out the pox and measles, and heal wounds; the petals colored broths and cheese as a “poor man’s saffron.”
Marigold: how is it taken as a tea?
An ounce of the flowers to a pint of boiling water, a tablespoonful at a time; the freshly gathered flowers infused in fevers to promote perspiration and bring out the eruption.
All the herbal teas of the database. Historical directions, not medical advice.
Marigold: what does modern science say?
Calendula ointments are widely used on minor wounds and skin; the evidence is modest. Calendula ointment is one of the few folk wound dressings with trial support: it reduced the skin reaction of radiotherapy in a French trial of 2004 better than the standard cream, and it speeds the closing of small wounds in animal work. Its petals are rich in lutein, and the flower is in the European monographs for minor skin inflammations.
Pharmacognosy & Toxicology
- Constituents
- faradiol esterstriterpene alcohols, the anti-inflammatory
- calendulosidesoleanolic acid saponins
- lutein and zeaxanthinthe colour
- rutin and isoquercitrin
- Mechanism
- The faradiol esters inhibit inflammation in the skin on a par with indomethacin in the mouse-ear test, and the extract speeds granulation and epithelial growth in wounds; a trial of calendula ointment in 254 women after breast radiotherapy found less dermatitis than with the standard cream (Pommier, 2004).
- Toxic dose
- Very safe on the skin; Compositae allergy is rare with this one.
- Standing
- EMA monograph (2018) for minor skin inflammation and wounds; in the German tradition and the French pharmacopoeia.
- Pommier, P., et al. (2004). “Phase III randomized trial of Calendula officinalis compared with trolamine for the prevention of acute dermatitis during irradiation for breast cancer.” Journal of Clinical Oncology 22. Verified against its record · doi:10.1200/jco.2004.07.063
- EMA/HMPC (2018). European Union herbal monograph on Calendula officinalis L., flos (EMA/HMPC/437450/2017). Verified against its record
The abstract of each source, beneath its citation. For Club members. About the Club or sign in.
Constituent names open the compound’s record at PubChem, and “ChEMBL” beside a name opens its record at ChEMBL, the European Bioinformatics Institute’s database of bioactive molecules. Where a mechanism line was checked against ChEMBL (ChEMBL 37, read 1 October 2026), the check is shown with the measured value and its source paper, or says plainly that nothing has been measured. Doses are as the references give them, for description only; this is not medical advice. Each source carries the result of its check against Crossref, PubMed, or the authority’s page: see Verification.
Marigold: what lore surrounds it?
Named calendula because it was said to flower on the calends, the first of every month.
Surgeons of the American Civil War and the First World War dressed wounds with calendula when other antiseptics ran short, and Gertrude Jekyll sent marigolds to the field hospitals in France. Shakespeare’s marigold “goes to bed wi’ the sun, and with him rises weeping.” The marigold of the Mexican Day of the Dead, cempasúchil, is a Tagetes, not this flower.
Marigold: what did the older authorities say?
- Its names
- Marigold is “Mary’s gold,” the flower given to the Virgin in the Middle Ages; the Romans had it as solsequium, the follower of the sun, since the flower opens with the morning and shuts at evening.
- Gerard
- Says the flower, dried and kept, was so much used in broths in the Netherlands that no grocer there was without it by the barrel, and that it “comforteth the heart.”
Sources
- Gerard, J. (1597). The Herball. Verified against its record · doi:10.5962/bhl.title.99400
- Grieve, M. A Modern Herbal, “Marigold.” As published on botanical.com.
- Shakespeare, The Winter’s Tale IV.iv. Book, not indexed
- Pommier, P., et al. (2004). “Phase III randomized trial of Calendula officinalis compared with trolamine for the prevention of acute dermatitis during irradiation for breast cancer.” Journal of Clinical Oncology 22. Verified against its record · doi:10.1200/jco.2004.07.063
Verification
- Checked
- October 1, 2026
- Passes
- Every sentence read against its sources, in the pass over the remaining 343 entries
- The Standing line checked against the authority it names (EMA, WHO, FDA, CITES, Commission E)
- Every dated or regulatory claim checked by category across the database
- Sources
- 5 cited: 3 verified against its record, 1 book, not indexed, 1 not yet checked. 1 with the abstract on file.
- Corrections
- None were needed.
What was checked, how, and what was found is set out on the Verification page. A checked source is one whose record was found; it does not make the entry medical advice.
Cite This Entry
Version 1 · first published September 25, 2026 · last revised October 1, 2026
- Chicago
“Marigold.” In Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1. The Thinking Press, 2026–. Last modified October 1, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/marigold.
- MLA
“Marigold.” Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema, version 1, The Thinking Press, 1 Oct. 2026, thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/marigold. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.
- APA
Marigold. (2026, October 1). In B. C. P. Statema (Ed.), Materia medica (Version 1). The Thinking Press. Retrieved October 8, 2026, from https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/marigold
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See Also
Drawing on the same sources: Gerard, Grieve, Shakespeare
Meadowsweet · Lavender · Purslane · Masterwort and angelica · Manna · Mayapple · Rosemary · Heartsease · the bibliography →
Nearby in the alphabet
Marjoram and jasmine (Origanum majorana) · Marking-nut electuary (Semecarpus anacardium (note XLIV)) · Mandrake (of the nightshade family) · Man on horseback (long counted a good edible) · Mastic · Malmsey
Historical description, not medical advice.