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Pot marigold
Pot marigold
Pot marigold
Pot marigold image
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.
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.
- Hypersensitivity to the preparation,
- acute gastritis,
- gastric ulcer and duodenal ulcer in the period of exacerbation.
When it is used internally – children’s age up to 12 years.