Calendula (Calendula officinalis), also known as pot marigold or common marigold, is a first-choice plant for cuts, burns, scrapes, insect bites and other minor problems, because it works on three levels. It disinfects, calms inflammation (which, to a certain extent, also reduces pain) and stimulates regeneration of damaged cells (thus encouraging healing).
Astonishing Results
I’ve lost count of the feedback I’ve received, in which someone said they were amazed at how quickly the improvement became visible. Or the comparative tests where the natural product was used on one finger and the drugstore product on the other, and where the calendula demonstrated its superiority.
Calendula is an annual plant, easy to start from seed. It is also very floriferous, flowering from the end of June, at least here in Montreal, until the first frosts (and even a little after), almost always in shades of more or less dark orange-yellow. It’s a very pretty medicinal plant that won’t give you any trouble.
You’ll also find several cultivars. Normally, these are used in the same way. I’m particularly fond of ‘Calypso’, which is deep orange in color, with a flower head rich in the sought-after sticky resin. Personally, I have reservations about the paler or pinkish cultivars (probably less rich in carotenoids). They don’t seem to be as effective at promoting healing, but are nonetheless very pretty in the garden.
The Calendula
The name calendula comes from the Latin calandæ (“as the months go by”), due to its very long flowering period. In warmer climates, calendula blooms all year round. In Canada, this hardy plant is one of the last to continue flowering into autumn.
As for the name “marigold”, it derives from Solsequia, meaning “that follows the sun”. Note, however, that several Asteraceae, including sunflowers, chicory and dandelion, have flower heads that follow the movement of the sun (well, the sun’s light).
“The marigold goes to bed with the sun and with him rises, weeping“, Shakespeare (Winter’s Tale)
In Greek mythology, this phenomenon is explained by the fact that the marigold was originally a wood nymph who fell madly in love with Apollo, the sun god, provoking the fury of Artemis. Artemis transformed the nymph into a white marigold. Apollo couldn’t save the nymph, but his rays gave her her superb yellow-orange color. And ever since, the nymph, still in love with Apollo, turns her head towards the sun every day.
Calendula is easy to find at many seed companies.
Description
Its height varies between 30 and 60 cm. It’s an Asteraceae, meaning that its flower head is similar in shape to a daisy, with tubular, sterile flowers in the center and what appears to be a petal around it, which is in fact a ligulate flower. The latter produces strange achenes, all different and reminiscent of insects.
If you manage to dislodge your gaze from the flowers, you’ll find a hairy texture on the rest of the aerial parts, with alternate leaves around 7 to 8 cm (4″) long.
Landscape Uses
Because calendula stays relatively low and displays lots of orangey-yellow flowers, it’s often used to draw colorful patterns in flowerbeds or add spots of sunshine. Calendulas prefer full sun, but tolerate part shade quite well.
I particularly like to mix orange-yellow calendula with cornflower knapweed (Centaurea cyanus), which is a deep blue. Both plants can be started as seedlings and like similar sunny conditions. They also have long flowering periods, when their complementary colors catch the eye of even the most distracted visitor.
Calendulas are robust and hardy, and will tolerate light frosts. Rare aphid attacks rarely cause significant damage. Powdery mildew is occasionally seen, but can generally be avoided by leaving good aeration between plants.
Calendula plants are frequently visited by honeybees and wild bees.
Propagation
I frequently see young plants for sale in garden centers, but calendula are really easy to start from seed. You can choose between indoor sowing (around mid-March to speed up flowering) or direct sowing in spring, around mid-May (in Montreal).
Calendula is a relatively greedy plant. Although it does well in poor soil, giving it a good dose of compost (1 to 2 cm around the plant) will provide useful nutrients to maximize its blooms. An overdose, however, could attract aphids.
Maintenance
Freshly transplanted young calendula will be sensitive to heat and drought, which is why it’s a good idea to transplant them earlier in the season. But if you’re forced to transplant late, give them regular watering, and a little shade in case of heatwave. After 2 or 3 weeks, they will have developed their root system and will be more resistant. In times of drought, you’ll still need to water them a little.
Calendulas don’t really require much maintenance, apart from frequent harvesting of the flower heads…
Harvest
Entire flower heads (including receptacle and sepals) are harvested by hand, ideally within the first few days of full opening. This means small but frequent harvests throughout the season. Frequent harvesting prevents the plant from starting to produce seeds, which is energy-consuming and somewhat reduces flower production.
As you pick the calendula, your fingers should become sticky, covered in resin. This is a good thing: it means that your calendulas are well supplied with resin, one of the active compounds you’re looking for.
Transformation
The flower heads are easy to dry. Calendula are not very sensitive to heat and can easily tolerate 35°C (95?). The trick is to make sure you’ve removed enough water from the flower heads. So look for a well-ventilated environment, away from direct light. Remember to use a dehumidifier, and allow 3 to 4 days for complete drying! A single poorly dried flower head will rot your entire jar. Fresh capitula are about 87% water.[1]
Tip for optimum quality and storage: place flower heads face down on the trellis (with stem end up). This way, you’ll avoid any overlapping or deformation of the flower heads as they dry. This is herbalist quality.
For more efficient processing, and to reduce the risk of rotting if you have bagged them with residual moisture, you can cut the flower heads into smaller pieces. Doing so will expose more cells to oxidation, accelerating the deterioration of the calendula’s active ingredients. But they’ll still be interesting for up to a year, especially if you store them in a closed container away from light. This is the quality generally found in health food stores.
Oily macerations of fresh calendula are wonderful. They are easily produced and can then be used as they are on the skin, or in the manufacture of ointments or creams. Oily macerations are for external use only.
Finally, you can also make a tincture, which consists of macerating the flower heads in alcohol. For marigold, because the compounds are very weakly polar, we look for the strongest possible alcohols (ideally 70%, but as this is difficult to find in some places, we often use 40% alcohol). To avoid diluting the alcohol, we use the freshly dried flower head to make the tincture. Tinctures of calendula can be taken in doses of 5 to 30 drops up to 3 times a day, for up to 2 weeks.
A dried flower:alcohol ratio of 1:5 is used, which is left to macerate for 4 weeks before pressing and filtering.
Infusions are also possible.
For internal use, use 1 to 2 g per cup with an infusion limited to 10 minutes (otherwise, the preparation becomes much less palatable). Tincture of calendula may be added.
Calendula infusion is used externally to cleanse wounds.
Externally, two handfuls of flower heads per liter of water are brought to the boil and left to infuse until the temperature drops and is pleasant to the touch.
In the Plate
Technically, the leaves are not toxic. But because they are bitter and rough, they are not much sought-after.
As for the flower heads, you can use the ligulate flowers (what we think of as the petal) fresh in salads, especially for the color they bring. They can also be used to color rice (in much the same way as saffron, hence one of its nicknames, “poor man’s saffron”).
I like their taste, which I would describe as peppery, a little bitter with an aftertaste of radish. Try calendula flowers in melted butter over low heat… it’s really delicious!
External Use of Calendula
Calendula is used to promote rapid wound healing and prevent and reduce infections.
For minor injuries, calendula can be used externally in 3 forms:
Infusion for wound cleansing. Chilled calendula infusion can be used for wound cleansing. However, other, perhaps more abundant herbs, such as soapwort, brunelle, mint, oregano, lavender or thyme can be used here to cleanse the wound.
As a diluted tincture on a fresh wound. On a fresh wound, the tincture is ideal. It gives maximum access to the plant’s properties, while allowing the wound to breathe. You can add an equal amount of water to the tincture. Then, either apply the tincture with a drip, avoiding touching the wound, or place it in a small spray bottle and repeat spraying frequently until scabbing occurs.
As an oily maceration or ointment on a wound where scab has formed. Once scab has formed, use an oily maceration, which can be solidified by adding beeswax to create an ointment. The oil or ointment will promote orderly wound healing (to reduce scar visibility), while softening the skin and reducing the urge to scratch the wound. For this purpose, calendula maceration can be used in combination with the following macerations: plantain, St. John’s wort and comfrey.
Calendula oil macerated with St. John’s wort is particularly useful for burns and sunburn. It can also be used on its own to treat diaper rash.
| Properties | Strength (1 à 3) |
| Anti-inflammatory | 3[2], [3], [4] |
| Healing / vulnerary | 3[3],[4],[5] |
| Antiseptic / antibacterial / antifungal | 2[3],[4],[5] |
| Antipruritic / analgesic | 2[3],[5] |
| Antihemorrhagic | 1[3] |
| Protection against UVB oxidative stress | 1[3] |
Anti-Inflammatory Properties
Among the active compounds, anti-inflammatory properties are mainly attributed to pentacyclic triterpenoids, including the mono-ester of faradiol[3]. Certain flavonoids, including isorhamnetol, are also present.[4]. All these compounds are theoretically very poorly soluble in water. They require high-grade alcohol or oils to be extracted.
Healing or vulnerary properties[6]
A randomized clinical trial on 72 women demonstrated that calendula ointment significantly increases the speed of healing after cesarean sections.[7] Other tests show that calendula acts both on the epithelial reconstruction phase (which is shortened) and by accelerating collagen synthesis.[4] This would also apply to tissues underlying the skin, such as tendons, and would promote faster, more structured repair.[8].
Note: for internal tissue repair, I generally combine calendula maceration with comfrey root maceration.
Antiseptic / Antibacterial / Antifungal Properties
In vitro, calendula extracts have been shown to be effective against several strains of bacteria and types of fungi. Flavonoids and triterpenic saponosides were particularly antiseptic. The polysaccharide fraction of flavonoids is also said to be immunostimulant, i.e. it stimulates the action of the body’s own immunocompetent cells, which in tests translates into a lower rate of secondary infection and faster wound healing.[3]
Other Internal Uses
Calendula is highly effective for repairing all internal mucous membranes, for example in cases of gingivitis, mouth ulcers, pharyngitis, esophagitis and gastric ulcers.
Calendula is a lymphatic stimulant. I like to use it (infusion and tincture) after an immune battle, to clean up the lymph. Here, the combination of calendula and Echinacea is particularly effective.
Precautions
In North America, apart from the rare cases of allergy to Asteraceae, there are very few contraindications. Except perhaps for pregnant women, because it is said to be an emmenagogue, but mainly as a precaution due to a lack of clinical tests to prove its harmlessness (having said that, the few tests on animals have shown no negative effects on the fetus).[8].
Classified A1 by the American Herbal Product Association[9], calendula is nontoxic[10] at recommended doses.
Commission E, for its part, issues no contraindications, not even for pregnant women.[10]
Drug Interaction:
Calendula may potentiate the effect of sedative plants.
Warning
In the case of serious disorders or chronic illnesses, consult a doctor.
Self-diagnosis and self-medication are dangerous.
Unless explicitly indicated, the uses described are for plants and do not apply to essential oils.
Before consuming a plant: be sure to identify it properly and always read the “Precautions” leaflet.
Dosages are given for information only, and are suitable for adults unless otherwise specified.
Despite all the care taken in writing this article, an error may have crept in. We cannot be held responsible for any consequences or misinterpretation, as no article can replace a doctor’s opinion.
[1] Laberge, D., LABERGE, H. (2011). L’héritage de l’Armoire aux herbes. Lantier: L’Herbothèque
[2] Hoffmann, D. FNIMH, AHG (2003). Medical Herbalism, The Science and Practice of Herbal Medicine. Rochester : Healing art Press. 666 p.
[3] Lorrain, E. (2019). Grand Manuel de phytothérapie. Malakoff: Dunod. 1290 p.
[4] Fleurentin, J. (2018). Du bon usage des plantes qui soignent. 2. Rennes: Éditions Ouest-France. 372 p.
[5] Corjon, G. (2015). Se soigner par les plantes: Jean-Paul Gisserot
[6] Vulnéraire: qui favorise la guérison des blessures et des plaies.
[7] Jahdi F. et al., (2018) The impact of calendula ointment on cesarian wound clinical trial, J Family Med Prim Care: sept-Oct; 7(5):893-897
[8] Aro AA, Perez MO, Vieira CP, Esquisatto MA, Rodrigues RA, Gomes L, Pimentel ER. (2015) Effect of Calendula officinalis cream on Achilles tendon healing. 298 (2):428-35
[9] Upton, R., Bear, S., Winston, D., Gagnon, D., Romm, A.j., Low Dog, T., Hardy, M., Craker, L. (2013). Botanical Safety Handbook. 2. London : CRC Press. 1035 p.
[10] Blumenthal, M., Goldberg A.,Brinckmann J. (2000). Herbal Medicine Expanded Commission E Monographs. Newton: Integrative Medicine Communications
Yes Tagetes are medicinal, but pretty different properties.
I was puzzled by your photographs as these look little like the fluffy-headed flowers I have always heard called marigolds. A bit of internet research revealed the reason: In the US at least, the flowers most commonly referred to as marigolds are in the genus Tagetes, whereas (as you make clear enough) your marigolds are in the genus Calendula. Do the Tagetes marigolds have the same medicinal properties as Calendula? I’m not sure I’ve ever seen the latter growing anywhere. Thanks!