Mexican Marigold — 1 of 4 · Photo: “TagetesLucida244” by manfred.sause@volloeko.de, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 Resized by Vanagrha; shared under the same licence.

Mexican Marigold, photo 2 — 2 of 4 · Photo: Jose Antonio Aranda Pineda, iNaturalist, CC BY

Mexican Marigold

Tagetes lucida Cav.

light: Full sun
water: Medium
tall: 61 cm
wide: 30 cm

Asteraceae

Also called Mexican tarragon, Sweetscented marigold

Formerly Tagetes anethina, Tagetes florida, Tagetes gilletii, Tagetes pineda, and 3 more

When it flowers

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Flowers July to November in the tropics.

Read from iNaturalist photographs of it in flower. A month counts at 50% of the best month's flowering share (smoothed over three months) and 10% of its flowering count, from at least 100 flowering observations in the band.

PetsNo pet-safety information yet

PeopleNC State Extension lists it as mildly poisonous (flowers, leaves, roots) (25 Oct 2026)

If a child, a pet or anyone may have eaten a plant, contact a doctor or vet straight away, or call the National Poisons Information Centre (AIIMS, New Delhi) on 1800 116 117, free and open 24 hours.

Something wrong with it?

About it

Grows as: PerennialKew's checklist, not yet checked
Climate: SubtropicalKew's checklist, not yet checked
Wild in: Mexico to HondurasKew's checklist, not yet checked
Light: Full sun (6 h or more)Read from NC State Extension and Wikipedia, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources. Sources differ: NC State Extension full; Wikipedia full, part
Height: 46 cm to 76 cmRead from NC State Extension and Wikipedia, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources. Sources differ: NC State Extension 0.5–2.5 ft; Wikipedia 45–75 cm
Spread: 15 cm to 46 cmRead from NC State Extension, one source
Water: Average: moist, well drainedRead from NC State Extension, one source
Flowers: YellowRead from NC State Extension and Wikipedia, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources
Coldest it survives: -12.2 °C (USDA zone 8a)Read from NC State Extension, one source

Not known yet: heat, hottest it survives.

Grow it with

Suggested by a rule, not by a gardener: same climate (kew), flowering when this plant does not (inaturalist), and a different shape.

In other languages (11)

Spanish: Pericón, Anisillo, Periquillo
German: Würz-Tagetes
root: Yauhtli, Bashigó, Yu’bat
Czech: aksamitník lesklý
Chinese (China): 甜万寿菊
Arabic: مخملية لامعة
Finnish: rohtosamettikukka
French: Estragon du Mexique
Slovak: aksamietnica lesklá
Turkish: Meksika Kadife Çiçeği
Chinese: 香万寿菊

Where this comes from

iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC0-1.0 (observation counts)
Wikidata, read 2026-10-25, CC0-1.0
Kew's checklist, read 2026-10-24, CC-BY-4.0
NC State Extension, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
Wikipedia, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
Wikimedia Commons, read 2026-10-25, CC BY-SA 3.0
iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY-SA
3D model: Tagetes lucida (built for Vanagrha) by Vanagrha, own

A fact “checked by a majority of its sources” was settled by a vote of the pages it was read from, not by a person reading it; one marked “one source” rests on that page alone. Anything else not marked checked has not been checked yet. Where nothing is known, the page says so rather than guess.