Uses
Fresh or dried leaves are used as a tarragon substitute for flavoring soups, sauces etc.
A pleasant anise-flavored tea is brewed using the dried leaves and flowering tops. This is primarily used medicinally in Mexico and Central America.
A yellow dye can be obtained from the flowers.
The dried plant is burnt as an incense and to repel insects[SUP].[/SUP]
Tagetes lucida was used by the Aztecs in a ritual incense known as Yauhtli. The Aztecs allegedly used Tagetes lucida as one of the ingredients in a medicinal powder which was blown into the faces of those about to become the victims of human sacrifice and which may have possessed stupefying or anxiolytic properties.The plant was linked to the rain god Tlaloc. The plant is also used by the Huichol, mixed with Nicotiana rustica (a potent wild tobacco), for its claimed psychotropic and entheogenic effects.
In one study, methanolic extract from the flower inhibited growth of Staphylococcus aureus, E. coli, and Candida albicans cultures. This effect that was enhanced with exposure to ultraviolet light. The roots, stems, and leaves also had the same effect when irradiated with UV light.[
