Pot marigold

Specification & Spread

Pot marigold (calendula) (Calendula officinalis L.)
Composite family (Asteraceae, or Compositae),
Other names: pot marigold (calendula).
It is a cultivated annual herbaceous plant.
The leaves are alternate, oblongly obovate, short-pubescent, solitary, yellow-orange. The flower baskets with a diameter of 5 cm.
The fruits are sickle-shaped seeds, develop from 2-3 rows of marginal false-tongued flowers, the middle tubular flowers form pollen; there are also terry forms.
It is naturalized and cultivated throughout the temperate climate of Europe, Asia and Australia. The country of the plant is unknown.
The plant is light-requiring, cold-resistant (withstands frosts up to −5 °C), unpretentious.

Composition

The chemical composition of calendula
Pot marigold flowers contain:

carotenoids (3%: carotene, lycopene, lutein, violin santin, flavoxanthin),
flavonoids (up to 1%: rutin, isorhamnetin, citrine isoquer),
ascorbic acid,
mucus,
bitterness,
organic acids,
triterpene saponins (arnidiol, faradiol, derivatives of oleanolic acid),
β-sitosterol,
stigmasterol,
coumarins,
tannins (6.5%),
tar,
essential oil.

Harvesting and storage of raw materials

The flower baskets are torn off and dried at a temperature of 50-60 °C.

Pot marigold flowers (calendula)
Solid or partially showered baskets with a diameter of up to 5 cm without peduncles or with residues up to 3 cm long.
The wrapping is grey-green, one or two-row, its leaves are linear, densely pubescent.
The receptacle is slightly convex, bare. The marginal flowers are false-reed, 15-28 mm long, 3-5 mm wide, with a curved, short pubescent tube, a three-pronged limb twice as long as a wrapper, and 4-5 veins.
The flowers in non-double forms are arranged in 2–3 rows, in terry ones – in 10–15 rows. The pestle is with a curved lower single-celled ovary, thin column and bilobed stigma.
The median tubular flowers are with a five-toothed corolla.
The marginal flowers are reddish orange, orange, bright or pale yellow; the median ones are orange or yellowish brown. The smell is weak.

Properties and application

The pharmacological action of calendula
Antiseptic, anti-inflammatory and wound healing.
Application of calendula
Infusions, tinctures and ointment of calendula flowers are used as:

wound healing
anti-inflammatory and
bactericidal agent.

The infusion is used internally as:

choleretic,
anti-inflammatory agent for gastrointestinal diseases,
in the form of injections — for: fistulas;
tincture — when: angina, gingivitis, to reduce bleeding gums, treating paradontosis,
in therapy — cervical erosion, proctitis;
ointment and tincture — when: bruises, cuts, infected wounds, burns, furunculosis.