Tagetes minuta L.

Mexican Marigold; Muster John Henry; Stinking Roger

Herb

Annual

Vascular

Muster John Henry is an introduced herbaceous annual in the Sunflower family (Asteraceae). It is native to Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, and Peru. It Alabama it has been found in a single south Alabama county. Muster John Henry can be found on roadsides, in roadside ditches, along the edges of fields and forests, and in other disturbed habitats. It is an annual with a tap root. The stems are 3-6 feet in height, branched above the middle, green in color, angled, and glabrous. The leaves are opposite, petiolate, and pinnately compound with 9-17 leaflets. The leaflets are lanceolate to lance linear, serrate, and glabrous. The undersurface of the leaflets have roundish orange glands near the margins. The glands are visible on the upper surface of the leaflet as raised “bumps”. Flowers are produced in heads. The heads are arranged in corymbs. The heads are narrowly cylindrical and have 1-3 ray flowers and 3-5 disc flowers. The ray flowers are pale yellow to almost white in color. The fruit is an elongate achene with 2-3 triangular scales at its apex. All parts of the plant have a strong Marigold scent when crushed. Muster John Henry is cultivated as a culinary herb in many areas. It is used to make Black Mint Paste and Wakatay Paste. The dried, crushed leaves are added to many dishes, especially those containing potatoes. Fresh or dried leaves are used to make an herbal tea and several other beverages. “Marigold Oil” extracted from the plant is used in perfumes, soft drinks, and to flavor tobacco. Muster John Henry is available from some nurseries that sell herb seed. It prefers a location with full sun. Seed can be started indoors or planted directly in the garden after danger of frost has passed.--A. Diamond

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Not Native

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