The Herbarium
Part XII · Lookalikes
Field pair
Tagetes for pot marigold
French marigold and Calendula — take this sheet to the bed, not a guess to the kettle.
Easy to confuseGarden
Tagetes for pot marigold
A salve recipe that says ‘marigold’ sometimes meant Calendula, sometimes Tagetes. They are not the same plant, and Tagetes is the nematode folklore, not the skin oil.
Calendula is a cool-season composite with pale seeds like little claws. French marigold (Tagetes) is a warm annual with a pungent, resinous scent and darker, narrower rays. Read the Latin on the packet.
The Herbarium — a teaching catalog, not a clinic. Traditional use is history, not a prescription. USDA 6b dates are a week either way, not a promise. Do not eat, drink, or harvest a plant you cannot name.