A buttercup for your water garden? It’s true! The Marsh Marigold is from the buttercup family and can come in the single flower variety or the double bloom variety. This pretty flower that sits atop the water makes a great statement as a marginal water plant (put along the borders of your water garden for best use). It is one of the oldest British native plants around, but it will grow nicely in the United States as well. If large quantities of this plant are ingested it can be toxic. It can also be a irritation to skin and cause some contact dermatitis.
Varieties to Try
- Caltha palustris
- Caltha palustris var. alba
- Caltha palustris var. polypetala
- Caltha palustris Plena (a beautiful double bloom variety)
How to Plant and Grow Marsh Marigold
This perennial can vary widely on height, from eight inches to two feet. The flowers are on hollow stems, yellow, and one to one and a half inches across. They can have anywhere from five to nine petals on the flower, but the norm is five. These blooms are loved by bees and other pollen using insects. The flowers will start around April or May. They like rich soils and moist conditions, and they are decidedly not drought tolerant. The leaves on a marsh marigold are a lovely green, and the foliage and texture can make for a great plant. Plant in full sun or partial shade for the best results.
Name Variations for Caltha palustris
Besides Marsh Marigold, there is a variety of names that Caltha palustris goes by. There is Kingcup, Mayflower, Gundega, Mollyblobs, Pollyblobs, Mag Blobs, Horse Blob, Water Bubbles, Water Blobs, Publican, Cowslip, and Gollins.
“Caltha” is from Latin to mean “Cup” and the “palustris” is from the Latin word “paluster” that means “boggy or marshy”. This plant, by name, is a boggy cup plant.
Folklore Remedy
Marsh marigold has been used by Native Americans to aid in birthing processes, to treat colds and sores, and as a vomit inducer. It has been a love charm protector. An infusion made of the marsh marigold leaves was used as a constipation remedy. Native Americans have used this in folklore remedies in various different ways by various different parts of the plant.
Scientific Classification of Marsh Marigold
- Kingdom Plantae – Plants
- Subkingdom Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
- Superdivision Spermatophyta – Seed plants
- Division Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
- Class Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
- Subclass Magnoliidae
- Order Ranunculales
- Family Ranunculaceae – Buttercup family
- Genus Caltha L. – marsh marigold
- Species Caltha palustris L. – yellow marsh marigold
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