Species
+

Tagetes lucida Cav.

Mexican mint marigold, Mexican-tarragon, Sweetscented Marigold, Texas-tarragon

Climate known 57 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

Tagetes lucida is a perennial plant native to Mexico and Central America. It is used as a medicinal plant and as a culinary herb. The leaves have a tarragon-like scent, with hints of anise, and it has entered the nursery trade in North America as a tarragon substitute. Common names include sweetscented marigold, Mexican marigold, Mexican mint marigold, Mexican tarragon, sweet mace, Texas tarragon, pericón, yerbaniz, and hierbanís.

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

About the genus · Tagetes

Tagetes is a genus of 50 species of annual or perennial, mostly herbaceous plants in the family Asteraceae. They are among several groups of plants known in English as marigolds. The genus Tagetes was formally named by Carl Linnaeus in 1753. More on Wikipedia ›

The opening of Wikipedia, “Tagetes”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written.

Family
Asteraceae
Described by
Cav.
Native to
Mexico Central, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Gulf +6
Wild records
1715 in range· 1138 open

At a glance

Warmest month
25°C
May, mean day; nights 12 °C (CHELSA)
Rain
916mm/yr
6 wet months · peak Jul 204 mm (CHELSA)
Light
30–47DLI
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: a summer growing season, June to September in the northern hemisphere (June to September at the habitat, northern). Habitat rain 916 mm a year, wettest July at 204 mm, driest December at 10 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere). Open sky over the habitat: 30 to 47 mol/m²/day. Cold floor 1.4 °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 Tagetes anethina Sessé & Moc.; Tagetes florida Sweet; Tagetes gilletii De Wild.; Tagetes lucida (Sweet) Voss; Tagetes lucida f. florida (Sweet) Voss and 7 more.

Cultivation

Its year Rain rule: a summer growing season, June to September in the northern hemisphere (June to September at the habitat, northern).

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

The rain rule reads a summer growing season: 70% of the year's rain (701 mm of 916 mm) falls in June to September, warmer than the year (wet-season mean 17.6 °C against a yearly mean of 16.0 °C). Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere; shifted six months for a southern-hemisphere collection: December to March.

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 916 mm a year, wettest July at 204 mm, driest December at 10 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

916 mm a year at the habitat, 701 mm of it June to September. Wettest month July at 204 mm, driest December at 10 mm. Across the envelope cells the year's total runs 593 mm to 1691 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: 30 to 47 mol/m²/day.

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Open sky over the habitat: 30 to 47 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 25, the highest 90th-percentile month 50).

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 1.4 °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 1.4 °C, the absolute minimum -3.6 °C, about 1 frost night a year (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 31.4 °C. Monthly means: coldest night 5.9 °C in January (across the envelope cells 1.4 °C to 11.2 °C), warmest day 25.4 °C in May (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). Cold floor: 1.4 °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: 49 to 65% 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 19 °C in Jan to 25 °C in May; mean night from 6 °C in Jan to 13 °C in Jun. The cold quarter, Dec to Feb, is the three months around the coldest night. 916 mm of rain a year, most in Jul. The bands show the 10th to 90th percentile across 1108 habitat cells. Over 44 years at the typical cell the absolute minimum was -3.6 °C and the 99th-percentile day 31.4 °C; neither is dated to a month. Beneath: daily light integral and relative humidity through the year, each on its own scale.-10°10°20°30°40°frost31.4° 99th-percentile day (undated)-3.6° lowest night in 44 yrs (undated)°C · day and nightcold quarter0100200300400mm rainDLI 30–47RH 49–65 %JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain 10th–90th percentile across 1108 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 °C19 / 15–2421 / 16–2523 / 19–2825 / 21–3025 / 21–3024 / 20–2922 / 19–2622 / 19–2621 / 18–2521 / 18–2520 / 17–2520 / 15–24
Night °C6 / 1–117 / 2–128 / 4–1310 / 6–1512 / 8–1713 / 10–1712 / 9–1712 / 9–1712 / 9–1710 / 7–158 / 4–137 / 2–12
Rain mm20 / 9–4714 / 9–3511 / 4–2822 / 5–5857 / 19–138160 / 81–301204 / 108–301184 / 103–293153 / 99–30864 / 40–15717 / 10–5810 / 6–51
DLI32 / 26–3438 / 32–3944 / 39–4547 / 42–4945 / 40–5039 / 33–4537 / 34–4237 / 33–4133 / 30–3633 / 30–3532 / 28–3430 / 25–32
RH %53 / 48–6051 / 46–5849 / 43–5749 / 42–5953 / 45–6261 / 54–6864 / 58–6864 / 59–6865 / 59–7061 / 54–6756 / 49–6454 / 49–62

Each figure is the median across the 1108 grid cells holding the 1691 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 1408:1622 (19.575, -98.875). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum -3.6 °C, 1st-percentile night 1.4 °C, 99th-percentile day 31.4 °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 1108 distinct grid cells holding the 1691 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1408:1622 (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 19.50_-98.750, lapse-corrected -348 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 2285 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.
NativeMexico Central, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southwest, Mexico Southeast, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras· introduced: Jawa
Kew's description“perennial” · “subtropical”· quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Map marker19.581, -99.298 · in the densest population, 1009 records (59% of those in range)
Evidence usedThe map marker and the climate envelope rest on all 1715 georeferenced records inside the native range; the map shows only the 1138 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 16 km away. 23 records outside the range (gardens, roadsides, misidentifications) ignored. 24 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km and stay on the map but off the climate.
The map markerthe map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population inside the densest 2° block of the 1715 in-range records; it decides nothing.

Photographs

Tagetes lucidaTagetes lucidaTagetes lucidaTagetes lucidaTagetes lucidaTagetes lucidaTagetes lucidaTagetes lucida

Photographs: (c) José Belem Hernández Díaz, some rights reserved (CC BY) (2); (c) Oscar Alejandro Morales Juárez, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA); (c) Alan Rockefeller, some rights reserved (CC BY) (4); (c) IA braham, some rights reserved (CC BY).

Photographs: iNaturalist 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 Tagetes lucida, most cited first, from OpenAlex (CC0). A mention, not a cultivation source: nothing on this page is drawn from them.

Antifungal and Antibacterial Activities of Mexican Tarragon (Tagetes lucida)
Carlos L. Céspedes, José G. Ávila, Andrés Luis Martínez Marín, Blanca Serrato (2006) · Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
Repellent Activity of Essential Oils and Some of Their Individual Constituents against Tribolium castaneum Herbst
Karina Caballero-Gallardo, Jesús Olivero‐Verbel, Elena E. Stashenko (2011) · Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
Insecticidal and Repellent Activity of Several Plant-Derived Essential Oils Against Aedes aegypti
Ruth Mariela Castillo-Morales, Elena E. Stashenko, Jonny E. Duque (2017) · Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association
Thiophene occurrence in different Tagetes species: agricultural biomasses as sources of biocidal substances
Ilaria Marotti, Mauro Marotti, Roberta Piccaglia, Anna Nastri (2010) · Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture
An Extract of Tagetes lucida and Its Phenolic Constituents as Antioxidants
Rita Patrizia Aquino, Armando Cáceres, Silvana Morelli, Luca Rastrelli (2002) · Journal of Natural Products
Characterization and Yield Evaluation of Essential Oils from DifferentTagetesSpecies
Mauro Marotti, Roberta Piccaglia, Bruno Biavati, Ilaria Marotti (2004) · Journal of Essential Oil Research
Antidepressant-like effects of Tagetes lucida Cav. in the forced swimming test
G. Guadarrama-Cruz, Francisco Javier Alarcón-Aguilar, R. Lezama-Velasco, Gonzalo Vázquez-Palacios (2008) · Journal of Ethnopharmacology
Chemical composition and antioxidant activity of essential oils isolated from Colombian plants
Jesús Olivero‐Verbel, Tulia González-Cervera, Jorge Güette-Fernández, Beatriz E. Jaramillo-Colorado (2010) · Revista Brasileira de Farmacognosia
Anti-inflammatory activity of coumarins isolated from Tagetes lucida Cav.
Nayeli Monterrosas‐Brisson, Maribel Herrera‐Ruíz, Jiménez-Ferrer Enrique, Bahena-Pérez Rafael (2019) · Natural Product Research
Role of β-Caryophyllene in the Antinociceptive and Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Tagetes lucida Cav. Essential Oil
Alberto Hernández-León, María Eva González-Trujano, Fernando Narváez-González, Gimena Pérez-Ortega (2020) · Molecules
Screening of 17 Guatemalan medicinal plants for platelet antiaggregant activity
Rosa Villar, José María Calleja, Claudia Morales, Armando Cáceres (1997) · Phytotherapy Research
Tagetes lucida Cav.: Ethnobotany, phytochemistry and pharmacology of its tranquilizing properties
Gimena Pérez-Ortega, María Eva González-Trujano, G.E. Ángeles-López, Fernando Brindis (2016) · Journal of Ethnopharmacology

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 Tagetes 4 in the reference

History & registers

Where this page came from built 2026-09-20 · dossier v2 · node
gbif.species answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.synonyms answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.vernacular answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (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 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
wikipedia answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.taxon not asked
inat.photos.wild answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.photos.cultivated nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
commons nothing to reportcarried 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 2026-09-19; 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 87 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.