Growth Form:Forb/herb, plants with strong unpleasant odor; erect or spreading outward and upward (decumbent, multiple branches; plants smooth (glabrous) or minutely soft hairy.
Leaves: Green, generally upper leaves arranged alternate along stem; leaves pinnately divided into linear segments; leaves with visible clear or orangish colored oil glands.
Flower Color: Yellow or orange, flower heads many, both ray and diskflorets although difficult to observe; bracts surrounding flora heads contain visible oil glands; fruit a cypselapappus with short bristles.
Flowering Season: August to October; May to October in California
Elevation: 3,000 to 6,500 feet (914-1,981 m); below 1,150 feet (350 m in) California
Habitat Preferences: Variable, grasslands, open woodlands, waste (ruderale) places and other disturbed areas, fields, rocky areas and roadways.
Recorded Range: Fetid Marigold is native throughout much of the United States and introduced in Ontario and Saskatchewan, Canada. It is also native to Mexico and into South America. In Arizona it is found in the northeast, east and southern parts of the state.
North America & US County Distribution Map for Dyssodia papposa.
North America species range map for Fetid Marigold, Dyssodia papposa:
North American range map courtesy of Virginia Tech, Dept. of Forest Resources & Environmental Conservation
Click image for full size map
U.S. Weed Information: In North America Dyssodia papposa can be weedy or invasive according to the following authoritative sources:
Weeds of Nebraska and the Great Plains.
Plants included here may become weedy or invasive.
Genus Information: In North America there is 1 species and 1 accepted taxa overall for Dyssodia. Worldwide, The Plant List includes 8 accepted species names and a further 7 scientific names of infraspecific rank for the genus.
The genus Dyssodia is found in every state in the southwestern United States.
The genus Dyssodia once included species now belonging to the genera Thymophylla and Adenophyllum.
The genus Dyssodia was published in 1801 by Antonio Josè Cavanilles.
Comments: Fetid Marigold is considered a weed perhaps because it has an odor which is unpleasant to some. Often the plant must be crushed in hand to experience the odor which is produced from glandular oils in the plant.
Importance to Wildlife, Birds and Livestock
Dyssodia papposa flowers and plants may be visited by hummingbirds and/or small mammals in search of food, nectar or cover.
Special Value to Native bees, Butterflies and Insects
Dyssodia papposa flowers and plants may be visited by native bees, butterflies and/or insects in search of food, nectar or cover.
Etymology:
The genus Dyssodia (Dysso'dia:) is from the Greek word dysodia for “a disagreeable odor”.
The species epithet papposa (pappo'sa:) may be from the Latin for “with pappus” or from (pappus:) which may refer to the pappus of an asteraceous plant or derived from the Greek word pappos, meaning “a grandfather, or the first down on the chin,” such as down or fuzz.
Ethnobotany
Dyssodia papposa is used for a multitude of purposes (gastrointestinal aid and as food source such as bread, cake and vegetable) by indigenous peoples of the United States.
Apache, Chiricahua & Mescalero Food, Bread & Cake and Unspecified and Vegetable; Seeds winnowed, dried, stored, ground into flour and used to make bread and Seeds roasted without grinding and combined with other foods and Tops cooked alone or with meat and used as greens.
Dakota Drug, Veterinary Aid and Forage; Compound decoction of plant used for horses with coughs and Plant given to horses for coughs and Plant considered a choice prairie dog food.
Keres, Western Drug, Febrifuge and Other; Infusion of fresh or dried plants taken or used as a rub for fever and Plant smoked for epileptic fits.
Lakota Drug, Analgesic and Antihemorrhagic and Reproductive Aid; Plant breathed in for headaches and Decoction of plant and gumweed blossoms taken for the spitting of blood and pulverized leaves used for breathing difficulties.
Navajo, Ramah Drug, Dermatological Aid and Gastrointestinal Aid; Poultice of chewed leaves applied to ant bites and Cold infusion of plant taken after swallowing a red ant.
Omaha Drug, Analgesic: Leaves stuffed up nostrils to cause nosebleed for headache.
See complete listing of ethno-botanical uses at Native American Ethnobotany, University of Michigan, Dearborn.
