General information

According to Hanan, Mondragón and Vibrans (2009) The Mexican Sunflower or Tree Marigold (Tithonia diversifolia) is an herbaceous or robust shrubby plant that can grow up to 4 m tall, erect and branched with tender branches covered with hairs that fade with age. Its leaves are alternate, petiolate up to 20 cm long. Its inflorescences are made up of several large heads, grouped on strong pendulums. The flowers are bright yellow or orange in the shape of a disc. It blooms and bears fruit throughout the year, but mainly in October and November. It is native to southern Mexico, Central America, and northern South America, such as Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela; it also includes the Antilles. In Guatemala it can be found at heights of 200 m to 2300 m.

Uses

Due to its beauty, it is widely cultivated for ornamental purposes, however, its leaves contain substances with anti-inflammatory effects and there are studies that support its use as a remedy for malaria. Other studies mention its properties to improve soil quality. Hanan, Mondragón and Vibrans (2009) also indicate that it can be used for forage, as a honey plant, for live fences, as green manure and in animal feed.

In our ethnobotanical garden we have observed the blooms of this plant during the month of November, its flowers give off a very pleasant and sweet aroma, similar to honey. If you want to learn more about Tithonia diversifolia you can consult the bibliographic references that we have prepared for you.

Click to enlarge

Photographed by Nicholas Hellmuth with a Canon EOS 6D camera. Setting: f/11, 1/250, ISO 400 with a 180mm f/0 lens.

Click to enlarge

Photographed by Nicholas Hellmuth with a Canon EOS 6D camera. Setting: f/11, 1/250, ISO 400 with a 180mm f/0 lens.

PDF, Articles, Books on Tithonia diversifolia

• GALLEGO, L. A., MAHECHA, L. and J. ANGULO
• 2014
• Potencial forrajero de Tithonia diversifolia Hemsl. A Gray en la producción de vacas lecheras. Agronomía Mesoamericana. Vol. 25, No. 2. Pages 393-403.
  
  Available Online:
  www.mag.go.cr/rev_meso/v25n02_393.pdf

• GONZÁLEZ, J. C., HAHN, C. M. and W. NARUDEZ
• 2014
• Características botánicas de Tithonia diversifolia (Asterales: Asteraceae= y su uso en la alimentación animal. Boletín Científico, Centro de Museos. Vol. 18, No. 2. Pages 45-58.
  
  Available Online:
  www.scielo.org.co/pdf/bccm/v18n2/v18n2a04.pdf

• HANAN, A. M., MONDRAGÓN, J. and H. VIBRANS (editor)
• 2009
• Asteraceae = Compositae. Tithonia diversifolia (Hemsl.) A. Gray, Palocote tropical. CONABIO.
  
  Available Online:
  www.conabio.gob.mx/malezasdemexico/asteraceae/tithonia-diversifolia/fichas/ficha.htm

• KANDUNGU, J., ANJARWALLA, P., MWAURA, L., OFORI, D. A., JAMNADASS, R., STEVENSON, P. C. and P. SMITH
• 2013
• Tithonia diversifolia (Hemsley) A. Gray. Pesticidal plant leaflet. 2 pages.
  
  Available Online:
  www.researchgate.net/publication/262486678_Tithonia_diversifolia

• LEITE, B., EDRADA, R. and F. BATISTA
• 2016
• Effect of the environment on the secondary metabolic profile of Tithonia diversifolia: a model for environmental metabolomics of plants. Scientific Reports Volume 6, Article number: 29265.
  
  Available Online:
  www.nature.com/articles/srep29265#citeas

• LEZCANO, Y., SOCA, M., OJEDA, F., ROQUE, E., FONTES, D., MONTEJO, I. L., SANTANA, H., MARTÍNEZ, J. and N. CUBILLAS
• 2012
• Caracterización bromatológica de Tithonia diversifolia (Hemsl.) A. Gray en dos etapas de su ciclo fisiológico. Pastos y forrajes. Vol. 35, No. 3. Pages 275-282.
  
  Available Online:
  http://scielo.sld.cu/pdf/pyf/v35n3/pyf03312.pdf

• MIRANDA, A. F., VARELA, R., TORRES, A., MOLINILLO, J., GUALTIERI, S. C. and F. A. MACÍAS
• 2015
• Phytotoxins from Tithonia diversifolia. J. Nat. Prod. 78, 5, 1083–1092.
  
  Available Online:
  https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.jnatprod.5b00040#

• MORONKOLA, D. O., OGUNWANDE, I. A., WALKER, T. M., SETZER, W. N. and I. O. OYEWOLE
• 2007
• Identification of the main volatile compounds in the leaf and flower of Tithonia diversifolia (Hemsl) Gray. Journal of Natural Medicine. No. 61. Pages 63-66.
  
  Available Online:
  www.researchgate.net/profile/Isaac_Oyewole/publication/226210599
  Identification_of_the_main_volatile_compounds_in_the_leaf_and_flower
  of_Tithonia_diversifolia_Hemsl_Gray/links/02e7e5165b00c961eb00000
  0/Identification-of-the-main-volatile-compounds-in-the-leaf-and-flower
  -of-Tithonia-diversifolia-Hemsl-Gray.pdf

• OLABODE, O. S., SOLA, O., AKANBI, W. B., ADESINA, G. O. and P. A. BABAJIDE
• 2007
• Evaluation of Tithonia diversifolia (Hemsl.) A Gray for Soil Improvement. World Journal of Agricultural Sciences Vol. 3, No. 4, pages: 503-507.
  
  Downloadable Online:
  https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.415.1021&rep=rep1&type=pdf

• OYEWOLE, I. O., IBIDAPO, C. A., MORONKOLA, D. O., ODUOLA, A. O., ADEOYE, G. O., ANYASOR, G. N. and J. A. OBANSA
• 2008
• Anti-malarial and repellent activities of Tithonia diversifolia (Hemsl.) leaf extracts. Journal of Medicinal Plants Research. Vol. 2, No. 8. Pages 171-175.
  
  Available Online:
  www.academicjournals.org/article/article1380379618_Oyewole%20et%20al.pdf

• RÍOS, C. I.
• 1998
• Tithonia diversifolia (hemsl.) Gray, una planta con potencial para la producción sostenible en el trópico. Agroforestería para la Producción Animal en Latinoamérica. FAO. Pages 217-230.
  
  Available Online:
  www.fao.org/livestock/agap/frg/agrofor1/Rios14.PDF

• SAAVEDRA, S. Y.
• 2016
• Fenología y fisiología de semillas de botón de oro Tithonia diversifolia (Hemsl.) Gray. Universidad Nacional de Colombia. 74 pages.
  
  Available Online:
  www.bdigital.unal.edu.co/55663/1/1128408177.2016.pdf

Suggested web pages with photos and
information on Tithonia diversifolia

www.sanparks.org/docs/parks_kruger/conservation/scientific/ff/alien_biota/awareness/no7-tithonia.pdf
Information.

www.conabio.gob.mx/malezasdemexico/asteraceae/tithonia-diversifolia/fichas/ficha.htm
Information.

www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/54020
Information and photos.

www.feedipedia.org/node/15645
Information and photos.

http://tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Tithonia+diversifolia
Information and photos.

www.theplantlist.org/tpl/record/gcc-117677
Synonyms.

Updated July, 2021
First posted, October , 2017. FLAAR MESOAMERICA by Vivian Hurtado.