Tagetes erecta, the Mexican marigold or Aztec marigold, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Tagetes native to Mexico. Despite its being native to the Americas, it is often called African marigold. The Aztecs gathered the wild plant as well as cultivating it for medicinal, ceremonial and decorative purposes. It is widely cultivated commercially with many cultivars in use as ornamental plants and for the cut-flower trade.The main characteristic of the flowers is that they are grouped in small heads or in solitary inflorescences, on peduncles up to 15 cm long, they are liguladas of yellow colors to red. In the flowers of the disc: 150 to 250 in the simple heads, in the doubles it shows different degrees of transformation in ligules, yellow to orange corollas. The fruits and seeds are: linear achenes smooth or slightly covered with stiff hairs at the corners. It has a long flowering period extending throughout the summer and fall. It reproduces easily by seeds.In Mexico, it is used in the festivities of the Day of the Dead, to decorate altars and tombs; hence the name `flower of the dead`. However, since antiquity it is also used for food and medicinal purposes. The essential oil of the flower contains antioxidants. It may be added to perfumes to infuse an apple scent into them.
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