Species
+

Calendula officinalis L.

Garten-Ringelblume (DE); Maravilla de muerto (ES), Pot Marigold, Pot Marigold (EN), Scotch marigold

Climate known 52 photographs
Add one to my plants Sow seed

Every figure on this page is derived from public data by a stated rule and says its source; nothing here is written by a person or a model, except the Wikipedia passage, which is quoted and marked as such. How it is made.

Summary

Calendula officinalis, Mary's gold, common marigold, the pot marigold, Scotch marigold, or ruddles, is a flowering plant in the daisy family, Asteraceae. It is probably native to southern Europe, but its long history of cultivation makes its precise origin unknown, and it is widely naturalised. The florets are edible and the plant has historically been used as medicine.

Text from Wikipedia, “Calendula officinalis”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written. Kept separate from everything derived here.

About the genus · Calendula

Calendula is a genus of about 15–20 species of annual and perennial herbaceous plants in the daisy family, Asteraceae that are often known as marigolds. They are native to Europe, North Africa, Macaronesia, West Asia and Western Himalayas and have their center of diversity in the Mediterranean Region. Other plants known as marigolds include corn marigold, desert marigold, marsh marigold, and plants of the genus Tagetes.

Text from Wikipedia, “Calendula”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written.

Family
Asteraceae
Described by
L.
Native to
Spain
Wild records
111 in range· 35 open

At a glance

Warmest month
27°C
Aug, mean day; nights 17 °C (CHELSA)
Rain
686mm/yr
11 wet months · peak Oct 84 mm (CHELSA)
Light
12–44DLI
mol/m²/day, winter to summer, open sky (CHELSA shortwave)
In short condensed by rule from the cultivation cards · not written by a person
Rain rule: no season, 70% of the rain takes 8 months (September to February and April to May in the northern hemisphere). Habitat rain 686 mm a year, wettest October at 84 mm, driest July at 24 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere). Open sky over the habitat: 12 to 44 mol/m²/day. Cold floor -4.7 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).
Each sentence is one card's own one-line form, written by the same rule as the card (Its year, Rain, Light, Temperature); the note cannot say what a card does not. Months are given for the northern hemisphere (set your site in Settings to change this), and the habitat's own alongside. The cards · the figures.

Also known as Calendula arvensis subsp. hydruntina (Fiori) Lanza; Calendula aurantiaca Kotschy; Calendula aurantiaca Kotschy ex Boiss.; Calendula eriocarpa DC.; Calendula hydruntina (Fiori) Lanza and 24 more.

Cultivation

Its year Rain rule: no season, 70% of the rain takes 8 months (September to February and April to May in the northern hemisphere).

This species’ habitat figures, and what two fixed rules read from them.

The rain rule reads no season: 70% of the year's rain (524 mm of 686 mm) takes 8 months, September to February and April to May. Mean temperature moves 16.4 °C between the warmest and coldest month. Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere; shifted six months for a southern-hemisphere collection: March to August and October to November.

Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the envelope cells: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve gives a season to reverse. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain Habitat rain 686 mm a year, wettest October at 84 mm, driest July at 24 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

686 mm a year at the habitat, 524 mm of it September to February and April to May. Wettest month October at 84 mm, driest July at 24 mm. Across the envelope cells the year's total runs 467 mm to 1244 mm (10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year) (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the envelope cells. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light Open sky over the habitat: 12 to 44 mol/m²/day.

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Open sky over the habitat: 12 to 44 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 9, the highest 90th-percentile month 48).

CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Warmth and air Cold floor -4.7 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell is -4.7 °C, the absolute minimum -19.8 °C, about 24 frost nights a year (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 38.9 °C. Monthly means: coldest night 1.8 °C in January (across the envelope cells -1.4 °C to 6.8 °C), warmest day 26.9 °C in August (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). Cold floor: -4.7 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell (NASA POWER).

NASA POWER daily minima and maxima 1981–2024 at the typical cell, lapse-corrected to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA. The cold floor is the figure named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 58 to 61% across the year (monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the envelope cells.

The figures the cards read from are in Climate below, and where they came from in Natural habitat.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat climate through the yearMean day from 10 °C in Jan to 27 °C in Aug; mean night from 2 °C in Jan to 17 °C in Aug. The cold quarter, Dec to Feb, is the three months around the coldest night. 686 mm of rain a year, most in Oct. The bands show the 10th to 90th percentile across 107 habitat cells. Over 44 years at the typical cell the absolute minimum was -19.8 °C and the 99th-percentile day 38.9 °C; neither is dated to a month. Beneath: daily light integral and relative humidity through the year, each on its own scale.-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°frost38.9° 99th-percentile day (undated)-19.8° lowest night in 44 yrs (undated)°C · day and nightcold quarter0255075100125150mm rainDLI 12–44RH 58–61 %JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain 10th–90th percentile across 107 habitat cells cold quarter: the three months around the coldest night extremes over 44 years at the typical cell, marked at the edge: undated DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C10 / 6–1411 / 8–1414 / 11–1716 / 12–1919 / 16–2224 / 20–2727 / 22–3027 / 23–2923 / 20–2619 / 16–2213 / 10–1710 / 7–14
Night °C2 / -1–72 / -1–75 / 1–96 / 2–1110 / 7–1414 / 10–1816 / 13–2117 / 13–2114 / 10–1910 / 7–156 / 2–113 / -0–8
Rain mm57 / 32–12549 / 26–9547 / 30–10368 / 45–12668 / 46–12047 / 23–9024 / 9–7144 / 17–8266 / 37–9384 / 52–12069 / 49–13263 / 39–126
DLI14 / 11–1620 / 16–2228 / 24–3136 / 31–3840 / 35–4344 / 38–4744 / 38–4838 / 34–4230 / 27–3321 / 18–2415 / 12–1712 / 9–14
RH %61 / 57–6560 / 57–6358 / 55–6158 / 55–6259 / 54–6259 / 52–6458 / 50–6459 / 51–6459 / 54–6361 / 58–6361 / 58–6561 / 57–66

Each figure is the median across the 107 grid cells holding the 111 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. Extremes and elevation were read at the typical cell 935:3624 (43.225, 1.225). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum -19.8 °C, 1st-percentile night -4.7 °C, 99th-percentile day 38.9 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Envelope: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 107 distinct grid cells holding the 111 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 935:3624 (its coldest month's mean night nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 43.00_1.250, lapse-corrected -475 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 270 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across every in-range record's cell, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeSpain· introduced: Great Britain, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland, Baleares, Corse, France, Portugal, Sardegna, Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Kriti, Romania, Sicilia, Yugoslavia, Belarus, Baltic States, Krym, Central European Russia, East European Russia, North European Russia, South European Russia, Northwest European Russia, Ukraine, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Azores, Canary Is., Madeira, Ethiopia, Mauritius, West Siberia, Primorye, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Tadzhikistan, Uzbekistan, North Caucasus, Transcaucasus, Afghanistan, Cyprus, East Aegean Is., Iraq, Lebanon-Syria, Turkey, China South-Central, Hainan, Manchuria, China North-Central, Qinghai, China Southeast, Tibet, Xinjiang, Taiwan, Assam, East Himalaya, India, Nepal, Pakistan, West Himalaya, Myanmar, Vietnam, Borneo, Jawa, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Philippines, Sulawesi, Sumatera, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia, Chatham Is., New Zealand North, New Zealand South, Cook Is., British Columbia, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Québec, Washington, Wisconsin, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, California, Mexico Southeast, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Trinidad-Tobago, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Argentina Northeast, Argentina South, Argentina Northwest, Chile Central, Chile North, Chile South, Juan Fernández Is., Paraguay, Uruguay
Kew's description“annual or biennial” · “temperate”· quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Map marker41.704, 1.834 · in the densest population, 88 records (79% of those in range)
Evidence usedThe map marker and the climate envelope rest on all 111 georeferenced records inside the native range; the map shows only the 35 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 162 km away. 1533 records outside the range (gardens, roadsides, misidentifications) ignored.
The map markerthe map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population inside the densest 2° block of the 111 in-range records; it decides nothing.

Photographs

Calendula officinalisCalendula officinalisCalendula officinalisCalendula officinalisCalendula officinalisCalendula officinalisCalendula officinalisCalendula officinalis

Photographs: no rights reserved · CC0 (3); (c) zebedeugalinha, some rights reserved (CC BY) (2); (c) Daniel Heras González, some rights reserved (CC BY) (2); (c) georges3, some rights reserved (CC BY).

Photographs: iNaturalist and Wikimedia Commons did not answer when this page was built; what is shown came from the sources that did.

Papers naming this species

Works whose title or abstract names Calendula officinalis, most cited first, from OpenAlex (CC0). A mention, not a cultivation source: nothing on this page is drawn from them.

The microbiome of medicinal plants: diversity and importance for plant growth, quality and health
Martina Köberl, Ruth Schmidt, Elshahat M. Ramadan, Rudolf Bauer (2013) · Frontiers in Microbiology
Adverse effects of herbal medicines: an overview of systematic reviews
Paul Posadzki, Leala K. Watson, Edzard Ernst (2013) · Clinical Medicine
Antioxidative responses of Calendula officinalis under salinity conditions
Nader Chaparzadeh, M. L. D'Amico, R. A. Khavari-Nejad, Riccardo Izzo (2004) · Plant Physiology and Biochemistry
Phytochemical Constituents and Pharmacological Activities of Calendula officinalis Linn (Asteraceae): A Review
BP Muley, SS Khadabadi, Nilesh B. Banarase (2009) · Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research
Comparative analysis of bioactive phenolic compounds composition from 26 medicinal plants
Oksana Sytar, Irene Hemmerich, Marek Živčák, Cornelia Rauh (2016) · Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences
Antibacterial activity of antipsoriatic herbs: Cassia tora, Momordica charantia and Calendula officinalis
T. S. Roopashree, R Dang, Reetu Rani, C. Narendra (2008) · International journal of applied research in natural products
Ethnoveterinary medicines used for ruminants in British Columbia, Canada
Cheryl Lans, Nancy J. Turner, Tonya Khan, Gerhard W. Brauer (2007) · Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine
A review on phytochemistry and ethnopharmacological aspects of genus Calendula
Disha Arora, Anita Rani, Anupam Sharma (2013) · Pharmacognosy Reviews/Bioinformatics Trends/Pharmacognosy review
A new extract of the plant calendula officinalis produces a dual in vitroeffect: cytotoxic anti-tumor activity and lymphocyte activation
Eva Jiménez-Medina, Ángel M. García‐Lora, Laura Paco, Ignacio Algarra (2006) · BMC Cancer
Antimicrobial activity of Calendula officinalis petal extracts against fungi, as well as Gram-negative and Gram-positive clinical pathogens
Efstratios Efstratiou, Abdullah Ijaz Hussain, Poonam Singh Nee Nigam, John E. Moore (2012) · Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice
Anti-Inflammatory, Anti-Tumor-Promoting, and Cytotoxic Activities of Constituents of Marigold (Calendula officinalis) Flowers
Motohiko Ukiya, Toshihiro Akihisa, Ken Yasukawa, Harukuni Tokuda (2006) · Journal of Natural Products

Similar habitat climate the 6 species whose habitat climate is nearest this one's: mean day and night, month by month, and rain on a log scale, in calendar order, so a habitat with the same seasons six months out is far, not near. Nothing else counts: not range, not family.

Other Calendula 1 in the reference

History & registers

Where this page came from built 2026-09-20 · dossier v2 · node
gbif.species answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.synonyms answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.vernacular answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
wcvp.distribution answered
gbif.occurrences answeredGBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.3h4zam
climate answered
wikidata answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
wikipedia answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20; this build: skipped
inat.taxon not askedcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive)
inat.photos.wild answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20; this build: skipped
inat.photos.cultivated nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
commons not askedcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
gbif.media answered
openalex answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20; this build: skipped

Every upstream is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, or refused. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 131 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.