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Asteraceae
Corn Marigold
Glebionis segetum
golden harvest fields.
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Genus
- Glebionis
- Native to
- Mediterranean, southwestern Europe
- Bloom season
- Spring, Summer
- Type
- annual
- Height
- 0.5-2 ft
- Sunlight
- full sun
- Soil
- sandy, slightly acidic, well-drained
- Water
- low
- Hardiness
- 6-9
- Lifespan
- annual
Did you know
- Corn marigold was once so abundant in European grain fields that medieval farmers considered it a major agricultural pest and Parliament issued edicts demanding its eradication.
- The name 'segetum' means 'of the grain fields' in Latin, reflecting its ancient association with cereal agriculture across Europe.
- It spread northward from the Mediterranean as a weed contaminant in Neolithic grain seed stock — a 'fellow traveler' of human agriculture for 6,000 years.
- In Greece and Turkey, the tender young shoots and leaves are still eaten as a vegetable called 'siklos,' cooked like spinach or added to pies.
- Modern intensive agriculture and herbicide use have made corn marigold rare in many regions where it was once ubiquitous, leading to conservation efforts.
Color meanings
0
abundance
1
simplicity
2
cheerfulness