English Marigold is a powerful anti-inflammatory
The English Marigold or Calendula, called Pot Marigold or just Marigold in the UK, Calendula officinalis, is a common sight in English gardens. It’s a hardy annual, but it produces so many seeds, it’s unlikely you’ll need to sow it two years in a row. It’s only distantly related to the French Marigold and the African (American) Marigold.
The reason it got its common name of Pot Marigold was because it was one of the herbs often added to the pot when cooking. Nowadays culinary uses are pretty much restricted to the petals, which can be added to salads or dried and used for coloring rice and flavoring other foods. It’s also useful as a companion plant in the vegetable garden.
Marigold is a powerful anti-inflammatory, used to treat stomach and duodenal ulcers, colitis and diverticulitis, swollen glands and painful periods. For these purposes, make a standard infusion from all parts of the plant above ground, chopped finely. Use 3-4 teaspoonfuls of fresh or 1-2 teaspoonfuls of dried to 1 cup of boiling water and allow to steep for about 10 minutes before straining. The tea can be sweetened with honey if preferred, and may be sipped slowly over a period of an hour or more.
The same infusion, after cooling, can be used externally to treat conjunctivitis, skin conditions and thrush. An ointment or tincture made from the flowers is a very good treatment for hemorrhoids (piles), and also for cuts and grazes.
Like all herbs used for medicinal purposes, it’s important that marigolds are grown organically so as to avoid consuming high concentrations of chemicals along with your remedy. For more information about growing organic marigolds, visit the Gardenzone.
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December 6th, 2008 at 15:04
[...] African Marigolds, also known as American Marigolds and Aztec Marigolds, Tagetes erecta, are like a tall version of French Marigolds (to which they are closely related), although unfortunately they smell quite unpleasant. They make up for this by being just as useful as their smaller cousins, and then some. They are not closely related to English Marigolds. [...]