Tagetes
| Marigold | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Tagetes erecta | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Asterales |
| Family: | Asteraceae |
| Subfamily: | Asteroideae |
| Tribe: | Tageteae |
| Subtribe: | Pectidinae |
| Genus: | Tagetes L. |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Tagetes (/tæˈdʒiːtiːz/) 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. Linnaeus cited Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (1700), Johann Jacob Dillenius (1732), Gaspard Bauhin (1623) and Fabio Colonna (1606) as authors who used the name 'Tagetes' before. In 1754 he published the formal description in his Genera Plantarum, referring to Tournefort, Sébastien Vaillant (1720) and Dillenius for the name 'Tagetes'.
Originally called cempōhualxōchitl, by the Nahua people, these plants are native to Central and Southern Mexico and several other Latin American countries. Some species have become naturalized around the world. One species, T. minuta, is considered a noxious invasive species in some areas.