Tagetes lucida is a half-hardy sub-shrub native to Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 and Central America

Central America

Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...

. It is eaten as an herb

Herb

Except in botanical usage, an herb is "any plant with leaves, seeds, or flowers used for flavoring, food, medicine, or perfume" or "a part of such a plant as used in cooking"...

 and is commonly used as a substitute for tarragon

Tarragon

Tarragon or dragon's-wort is a perennial herb in the family Asteraceae related to wormwood. Corresponding to its species name, a common term for the plant is "dragon herb". It is native to a wide area of the Northern Hemisphere from easternmost Europe across central and eastern Asia to India,...

. The leaves have a tarragon-like flavor, with hints of anise

Anise

Anise , Pimpinella anisum, also called aniseed, is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae native to the eastern Mediterranean region and Southwest Asia. Its flavor resembles that of liquorice, fennel, and tarragon.- Biology :...

. Common names include Mexican marigold, pericón, Mexican mint marigold, Mexican tarragon, Spanish tarragon, and Texas tarragon.

Description

Mexican tarragon grows 18-30 in (46-76 cm) tall. The plant is bushy with many smooth, upright, unbranched stems. The leaves are linear to oblong, about 3 in (7.6 cm) long, and shiny medium green, not blue-green as in French tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus var. sativa). In late summer it bears clusters of small yellow flower heads on the ends of the stems. The flower heads are about 0.5 in (1.3 cm) across and have 3-5 golden-yellow ray florets. The flowers are hermaphroditic (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by insects.

Uses

Dried leaves are ground into a powder then used as a tarragon substitute for flavoring soups, sauces etc. A pleasant anise-flavored tea, popular in Latin America, is brewed using the dried leaves and flowering tops. The petals are used as a condiment.

A yellow dye can be obtained from the flowers.

The dried plant is burnt as an incense and to repel insects.

Tagetes lucida was used by the Aztecs in their ritual incense

Incense

Incense is composed of aromatic biotic materials, which release fragrant smoke when burned. The term "incense" refers to the substance itself, rather than to the odor that it produces. It is used in religious ceremonies, ritual purification, aromatherapy, meditation, for creating a mood, and for...

 known as yyauhtl. It is also used by the Huichol, mixed with Nicotiana rustica

Nicotiana rustica

Nicotiana rustica, known in South America as Mapacho and in Vietnam as Thuoc Lao , is a plant in the Solanaceae family. It is a very potent variety of tobacco. The high concentration of nicotine in its leaves makes it useful for creating organic pesticides.Rustica is also used for entheogenic...

(a potent wild tobacco), for its claimed psychotropic effects.

In one study, methanol

Methanol

Methanol, also known as methyl alcohol, wood alcohol, wood naphtha or wood spirits, is a chemical with the formula CH3OH . It is the simplest alcohol, and is a light, volatile, colorless, flammable liquid with a distinctive odor very similar to, but slightly sweeter than, ethanol...

ic extract from the flower inhibited growth of Staphylococcus aureus

Staphylococcus aureus

Staphylococcus aureus is a facultative anaerobic Gram-positive coccal bacterium. It is frequently found as part of the normal skin flora on the skin and nasal passages. It is estimated that 20% of the human population are long-term carriers of S. aureus. S. aureus is the most common species of...

, E. coli, and Candida albicans

Candida albicans

Candida albicans is a diploid fungus that grows both as yeast and filamentous cells and a causal agent of opportunistic oral and genital infections in humans. Systemic fungal infections including those by C...

cultures-an effect that was enhanced with exposure to ultraviolet light. The roots, stems, and leaves also had the same effect when irradiated with UV

Ultraviolet

Ultraviolet light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays, in the range 10 nm to 400 nm, and energies from 3 eV to 124 eV...

 light.

Phytochemistry

The plant contains the following compounds:

• Anethole
  Anethole
  Anethole is a phenylpropene, a type of aromatic compound that occurs widely in nature, in essential oils...
  
  
• Chavicol
  Chavicol
  Chavicol, or p-allylphenol, is a natural phenylpropene, a type of organic compound. Its chemical structure consists of a benzene ring substituted with a hydroxy group and a propenyl group. It is a colorless liquid found together with terpenes in betel oil. It is miscible with alcohol, ether, and...
  
  
• Coumarin
  Coumarin
  Coumarin is a fragrant chemical compound in the benzopyrone chemical class, found in many plants, notably in high concentration in the tonka bean , vanilla grass , sweet woodruff , mullein , sweet grass , cassia cinnamon and sweet clover...
  
  
• Estragole
  Estragole
  Estragole is a phenylpropene, a natural organic compound. Its chemical structure consists of a benzene ring substituted with a methoxy group and a propenyl group. Estragole is a double-bond isomer of anethole. It is a colorless to pale yellow liquid...
  
  
• Isorhamnetin
  Isorhamnetin
  Isorhamnetin is an O-methylated flavonol, a type of chemical compound. It can be found in Tagetes lucida, a psychedelic plant from Mexico and Central America.-Metabolism:...
  
  
• Methyleugenol
• Quercitin