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Tagetes patula

Mērīkōro

French Marigold

Multimedia & Additional Resources

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Image:	Flowers	69KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: French Marigold, Gold Rush

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Mērīkōro (RR MG), Merīkōro (AT), Merīkō (AK), Melikō (TS), Merikō (TW)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Mexico

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Not naturalised; Land, lowlands

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Ornamental flowers

KEY FEATURES: Annual herb to 50m. STEMS much branched. LEAVES strongly scented; opposite, compound, pinnate; LEAFLETS slender, toothed, w glands. FLOWERS solitary, stalk not or little enlarging upwards, involucre bell-shaped with weak-ribbed; 'flower' to 5cmØ; DISC FLS many; RAY FLS few to many; yellow, orange, red-brown, or bicoloured.

SIMILAR SPECIES: See under African Marigold (Tagetes erecta).

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea: Present?
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
++++?	++	++++	-					-

Northern Group: Present
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
++	?	?	-	?	-

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Scientific Taxonomy

Tagetes patula Linnaeus
TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); MAGNOLIOPSIDA (=Dicotyledones); ASTERIDAE; Asterales; ASTERACEAE

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
None Recorded.

References:
p.849 Neal - In Gardens of Hawaii
p.1095 Hortus 3rd
p.106 R Wilder - Flora of Rarotonga
p.416 Whistler - Ethnobotany of the Cook Islands

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zD04b

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
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