| |
|
 | |
| Online Flora of the Maltese Islands by Stephen Mifsud |
|
| |
|
|
 |  |  |  |
| External Links: |
|
Calendula officinalis (Pot Marigold) |
Calendula officinalis (ASTERACEAE.)
Images for this profile are taken from the Maltese Islands after year 2000.
Website launch: Oct-2002
Taxonomic update: Aug-2026
Code update: Jul-2026 |
|
| Nomenclature and General Information |
Species name : |
Calendula officinalisL.
Published in Sp. Pl. : 921 (1753) |
Synonyms :
(basionym or principal syn.) |
|
Plant Family : |
Asteraceae Bercht. & J.Presl (The Daisy or Sunflower Family) Previously included in Compositae
123 species from the Asteraceae family are recorded from the Maltese Islands. | English name(s) : | Pot Marigold, English Marigold |
Maltese name(s) : |
Suffejra tal-ġonna |
Status for Malta : |
Naturalised Alien. Species that was introduced in Malta after year 1492 (Columbus' discovery of the New World)
and spreads and integrates to form established, non-invasive populations.
Species may become become invasive if it widespreads rapidly. |
Frequency : |
Very Common Common Frequent Scarce Rare Very rare Extinct |
Growth form : |
Germination type [info]: Dicotyledon
Raunkiaer lifeform [info]: Therophyte ( annual plants, herbaceous, die after fruiting/seeding stage ) |
Legal Protection : |
Not legally protected till the last update of this website (22/Aug/2025) |
Red List (1989) : |
Not listed in the Red Data Book of the Maltese Islands |
Flowering Time : |
January – April |
Colour of Flowers: |
Yellow or Orange |
Toxicity: |
Not particularly toxic |
Name Derivation : |
Calendula: Derived from Latin word 'kalendae' that means first day of the month but is thought to allude to the plant's long flowering season - as if it last for all the months of the calendar. (Latin origin)
officinalis: Commercially or 'officially' used and sold in shops for medicinal or healing applications. This epithet was given in the past to plants with well-known medicinal properties. (Latin origin)
|
Planting in rural areas : |
Can be planted in rural areas according to ERA Guidelines |
|
|
Description, Habitat and Distribution | |
Botanical Description |
Annual to perennial, woody only at the base. Stems (17-)20-50(-10) cm, erect, diffuse or procumbent, much-branched, generally leafy almost to apex. Leaves (3-)7-14(-17) x 1-4(-6) cm, oblanceolate, narrowly obovate, oblong or spathulate, shortly acute or obtuse, glandular-pubescent to sparsely arachnoid-floccose, usually subentire to obscurely repand-dentate. Capitula usually 4-7 cm in diameter. Ligules often 2 cm, at least twice as long as the involucral bracts, yellow or orange; tubular florets usually more or less concolorous with ligules, sometimes brownish. Capitula in fruit with or without an outer row of incurved (or rarely patent) narrowly beaked achenes 2-2.5 cm, alternating with much shorter, cymbiform (rarely 3-winged) achenes. | |
Habitat in Europe |
Cultivated for ornament
| |
Preferred habitat in Malta |
Ornamental plant which have been seen escaping in sites close to its cultivated origin such as in road margins, fields, disturbed ground and even garigue
| |
Distributional range |
throughout Europe locally naturalized in S. & W. Europe and a frequent casual elsewhere.
| |
Native region outside Europe |
(Origin unknown.)
|
Distributional maps from various sources |
|
Occurrences in Europe
(from Flora Europaea till 1993) |
Introduced in the Azores, Britain (excl. Northern Ireland and Channel islands), Spain (incl. Andorra but excl. the Balaerics), Italy (mainland, excl. Sicily and Sardinia)
|
Occurrences in Europe
(from Euro+Med Checklist till 2024)
Country codes
|
[cAb(A) AE(G T) cAl Au(A) aAu(L) Az aAz(C F G J L M P S T) Be BH Bl aBl(M) nBr cBu By Ca(C H P T) nCa(G) Cg ?Co aCr aCs Ct aCy aEs nGa(C F) Ge Gr aHb(E N) He Ho Hs nHs(S) aHu nIt ?La aLe cLi aLS ?Lt aLu ?Ma nMd(M P) Mo No aPo Rf(C E K N NW S) aRf(CS) aRm Sa Si(M) aSi(S) aSk Sl Sr aSu aSy cTcs Tu(A) Uk(K U)]
|
|
| Links & Further literature
(0 papers) |
Google Web |
Google Images |
Google Scholar |
Research Gate |
Wikipedia |
JSTOR |
GBIF |
Med Checklist |
Cat. of Life |
EoL |
IPNI |
World Flora Online |
Plants of the World Online |
Vienna Virt. Herb. |
RBGE Herbarium |
KEW Herbarium |
MNHN |
Garden Database |
IUCN |
TROPICOS |
Kindly Email if there are papers and publications about local
studies or information about this species to be included in the list above.
|
|
Sales and Donations
|
 |
Sales of seeds of wild plant from Malta: Seeds of selected wild plant species may be available for academic studies, research purposes, or personal use. Please note that not all species can be supplied or exported. Availability is subject to seasonal seed production, stock levels, and applicable regulations, including Maltese legislation and CITES requirements where relevant. Protected and endemic species cannot be sold (at least without the relevant environmental permits).
How it works: First, submit a quotation request by completing the Online Quotation Form (link provided on the right side of this table). Once your request has been reviewed, you will receive confirmation regarding seed availability, export eligibility (where applicable), pricing, and any transport charges. Payments are accepted by Revolut, bank transfer (IBAN), or PayPal only; credit and debit card payments are not accepted.
Please note that local orders are currently not being accepted. Seek Maltese nurseries and NGOs for local orders.
|
Online Quotation (Seeds)
|
 |
Buy Images: Purchase photographs from this extensive online collection of Maltese flora by Stephen Mifsud. Images are available at reasonable prices, with rates varying according to image size and resolution. Your purchase helps support the maintenance and development of this website. When placing an order, please note the image code displayed beneath each photograph on the corresponding species page, as this is required when completing the online order form. Images are normally supplied under a license agreement, with copyright retained by the author; however, the sale of copyright for exceptional images may be considered on request.
|
Online Purchase (Images)
|
 |
Support this ad-free website Kindly consider to support this website by giving a small donation which will help to cover some expenses needed to pay the webserver and domains, maintain the website without any adverts, upgrading the code, including more wild plants and photos, and adding further data amongst other developments. You can use the links on the right for direct donations to this website by PayPal or Revolut. Even a 5 or 10 Eur donation is appreciated. Remember this website was ad*free since its launch back in 2002 and has served as an environmental educational tool for over 20 years.
|
💙 Donate by PayPal
💳 Donate by Revolut
|
|
| Contribute Information or Report Errors |
Use this form to submit additional information about this species or to report any inaccuracies on this webpage.
If the information you provide is sourced from a book, journal, website, or any other publication, rather then your own information or experience, then please include the relevant reference or web address whenever possible. Your email address will be used solely for internal communication and will not be shared. We greatly appreciate reports of: taxonomic updates; species misidentifications; incorrect or outdated information, broken links, technical website issues, or any additional information specific to the plant in this webpage.
Your contributions help to improve the accuracy and quality of this website. Thank you! Fill any of the three sections (A/B/C) below: .
|
|
|
|
| | |
Atlas Flora Europaea
GBIF Distribution Map
WFO Distribution map
