Field Marigold
© All rights reserved by www.mahmiyat.ps
The field marigold is a species of flowering plants belongs to the Asteraceae family in the Asterales order. It is annual herb with 30-60cm height and branched from base. It is not native flora and introduced from central and southern Europe, the leaves are lance-shaped and borne on from the slender and the leaf form is entire and leaf margin is simple, leaves arrangement is alternative one leaf per node, hairy stems erect or decumbent.
It is flowering from November-April, the flowers are monoecism which means that individual flowers are either male or female, but both sexes can be found on the same plant and are pollinated by bees.
Petal color: Brown, orange, yellow.
The fruit is an achene which take any shape, including ring-shaped, that facilitate different methods of dispersal, the spinescience and succlences in this plant are absent , in terms of phytogeography this plant follow the Med-Irano-Turanian chorotype.
Ecology: This plant is identified as glycophyt in terms of salt resistance. It is mostly natural flora and also syananthropic. This plant can not grow in the shade and prefer the moist soil.
Habitats: Batha, desert, fields, vineyards, waste ground and cultivated areas.
Plant Uses: Edible parts are flowers and leaves where the young shoots raw and cooked has nutritional values, they rich in vitamins and minerals, in medicine the leaves are diaphoretic and the flowers are said to be antispasmodic, emmenagogue and stimulant.
Distribution in Palestine: Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes, Deserts and extreme deserts, Mediterranean coast, Nablus mountains and desert, Jerusalem desert and Dead Sea valley.
IUCN red list status: not evaluated
Local status: least concern