Volume 13 > Part 2 > Year 2016 > Page 413 > Compositae (Asteraceae) > Tagetes

2. Tagetes minuta L.wfo-0000017317

Sp. Pl. 2: 887. 1753; Y.S.Chen & D.J.N.Hind, Fl. China 20–21: 854. 2011.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Description : Annual herb, 0.3–2 m tall, glabrous; stems usually simple, erect, short-branched above, branches ending in inflorescences. Leaves opposite or uppermost alternate, petiolate; blade narrowly elliptic, 5.5–12 by 5–7 cm, pinnatifid, leaflets 4–5 pairs, leaf-segments oblong-lanceolate, 1–7 by 0.15–0.95 cm, apex acute, base attenuate, margins serrate, with rounded oil glands near margins at base of each tooth, both surfaces glabrous, lower surfaces with oil glands; petioles to 4 cm long, with some small lateral segments. Inflorescences in compact corymbs; peduncles 1–6 mm long, more-or-less thickened below capitulum. Capitula ca 1 cm diam. at flowering; involucres cylindrical, 9–10 by 1.5–2 mm; phyllaries connate to near apex, forming a tube, apex 5-lobed, bearing lenticular oil glands; receptacle flattened, naked. Ray florets 2 per capitulum, pistillate; rays broadly obovate, usually 3-lobed, ca 2.2 by 3 mm, basal tube 3.2–5 mm long, hairy. Disc florets 2–3 per capitulum, bisexual; corollas 4–4.5 mm long. Achenes linear, 5–7 mm long, blackish, appressed setuliferous; pappus of ca 5 scales, subulate, 2 aristate scales to 3.2 mm long, others 0.5–1.5 mm long.

Thailand : NORTHERN: Chiang Mai (common elsewhere but not represented in herbaria).

Distribution : Native of tropical America (Chile – type), now widespread in warmer countries of SE Asia.

Ecology : Cultivated as a garden ornamental, but sometimes escaped on river banks and cultivated ground, 300–1,200 m alt. Flowering: February–October.

Vernacular : Dao rueang lek (ดาวเรืองเล็ก)(Central).