Marigold

Marigold, the popular name of several plants with golden blossoms, especially Calendula officinalis, the garden marigold, Chrysanthemum, segetum, the corn marigold; the various species of Tagetes; the so-called French and African marigolds; and Caltha palustris, the so-called marsh marigold. All these, except the last, which is ranunculaceous, belong to the order Composites (q.v.). The Calendula is a native of south Europe, and the Tagetes of Mexico and Peru. The corn-marigold is a common weed in our corn-fields, and the marsh marigold grows in bogs and by the side of ditches. The Calendula was the goldes of Chaucer, the heliotrope of some old writers, "the marigold that goes to bed with the sun, and with him rises weeping" of Shakespere's Winter's Tale.