Caltha palustris (Marsh marigold)

Caltha palustris L.

Marsh marigold, kingcup

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms
Class	Magnoliopsida	Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves
Subclass	Magnoliidae	Includes magnolias, nutmeg, bay laurel, cinnamon, avocado, black pepper, and many others
Order	Ranunculales	Basal (evolved earlier) eudicots, also called “true dicots”
Family	Ranunculaceae	Buttercup family
Genus	Caltha	A Latin name for the marigold
Species	palustris	Growing in marshes

About plant names...

Marsh marigolds are not marigolds at all—they are members of the buttercup family. They are native to temperate regions in Europe, Russia, Iceland, and North America. This plant is sometimes called cowslip, but another plant, Primula veris, is the proper owner of this name.

Plants: These plants are found in marshes, fens, and bogs. They are up to 31" (80 cm) tall. Stems are thick and hollow.

Leaves: Glossy rounded or kidney-shaped leaves are up to 8" (20 cm) across.

Flowers: Bright shiny yellow flowers often have five petals, but may have between four and nine. Each flower is about 1-1½" (2.5-3.8 cm) across.

Fruits: 4-15 follicles, each ¼-⅜" (7-12 mm) × ¹/₁₆-⅛" (3-4 mm). Seed pods split open when ripe to disperse the seeds.

Edibility: Poisonous Skull & Crossbones Members of the buttercup family are poisonous, and marsh marigolds are no exception. However, young leaves (no stalks), harvested while the plant is still flowering, may be cooked in several changes of boiling water, producing an “excellent”^[1] result.

It used to seem unlikely (okay, preposterous) to me that someone would carefully harvest portions of a poisonous plant, and boil them in several changes of water, just to produce a side dish. But this isn’t some long-extinct cultural practice. In Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses, Robin Wall Kimmerer gathers marsh marigolds for a dinner treat with almost the same sense of routine that I reserve for morning coffee. Ellen Zachos, author of several books on house plants, makes delicious preserves and wines from a wide variety of plants, both wild and cultivated.

These days we don’t very often need such plants for survival, but experiencing a mushroom that tastes like lobster, or a glass of elderberry champagne, or the unique flavor of wild asparagus is an adventure. Why do we sample so little of nature’s bounty?

Online References:

Caltha palustris on Earl J.S. Rook's Flora, Fauna, Earth, and Sky ... The Natural History of the Northwoods

Caltha palustris on Missouriplants.com

Caltha palustris at Illinois Wildflowers

Caltha palustris on Wikipedia

Caltha palustris at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Caltha palustris on plants.ces.ncsu.edu

Caltha palustris on

Caltha palustris on Plants for a Future, a resource and information centre for edible and otherwise useful plants

Caltha palustris on CalPhotos

Caltha palustris on eFloras

References:

Thierer, John W., Niering, William A, Olmstead, Nancy C., National Audabon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers, Eastern Region, Alfred A. Knopf, 2001, p. 727

Peterson, Lee Allen, Peterson Field Guides: Edible Wild Plants of Eastern/Central North America, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1977, p. 70

4/21/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts
≈ 9 × 6" (22 × 14 cm)

4/23/2016 · Big Tree/Porcupine Trail, Beaver Brook Conservation Area, Hollis, Massachusetts

4/21/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts
≈ 11 × 7" (27 × 18 cm)

5/7/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts
≈ 24 × 21" (60 × 52 cm)

¹See the Peterson Field Guides Edible Wild Plants, Eastern/Central North America, listed above

Caltha palustris description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 25 May 2020.

4/6/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton, Massachusetts
≈ 15 × 12" (37 × 29 cm)

4/21/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts
≈ 23 × 19" (59 × 48 cm)

4/23/2016 · Big Tree/Porcupine Trail, Beaver Brook Conservation Area, Hollis, Massachusetts
≈ 6 × 5" (15 × 12 cm)

4/15/1979 · Memphis, Tennessee · By Tim Chandler

5/18/2016 · Worcester Road, Beaver Brook Conservation Area, Hollis, New Hampshire
≈ 20 × 16" (51 × 41 cm)

4/23/2016 · Big Tree/Porcupine Trail, Beaver Brook Conservation Area, Hollis, Massachusetts
≈ 3 × 2½" (8.4 × 6.5 cm)

4/23/2016 · Big Tree/Porcupine Trail, Beaver Brook Conservation Area, Hollis, Massachusetts
≈ 8 × 7" (20 × 17 cm)

4/13/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts
≈ 9 × 14" (23 × 35 cm)

4/23/2016 · Big Tree/Porcupine Trail, Beaver Brook Conservation Area, Hollis, Massachusetts

Range: Zones 9-11:

About this map...