Marsh Marigold

As a botanist, I confess to teasing birders from time to time: groups of people flocking to the same spot to see an unusual species – really? But then spring rolls around and I eat my words as I make my annual pilgrimage to Miscouche to see Marsh Marigolds (Caltha palustris).

Marsh Marigolds are neither unusual nor rare on PEI (and they aren’t Marigolds). This member of the Buttercup Family (Ranunculaceae) is found in wet, mucky soil, and so is more common in Prince and Kings Counties; it’s virtually absent in the highlands of central Queens where I live. It’s also one of the few plants that’s more common here on the Island than over across on the mainland.

Also known as Cowslips, Marsh Marigolds are as beautiful as they are deceiving. Despite appearances, the flowers do not have five yellow petals – in fact, they have no true petals at all! What look like petals are actually sepals, structures that covered and protected the developing flower bud before it opened.

Typically, sepals stay small, green, and underneath the flower, helping to support showy petals. (Think of the green structures beneath a rose flower, for example). But Marsh Marigold is a master of efficiency – rather than expending energy to make an entirely new structure, it just turns its sepals yellow, allowing them to serve the same insect-attracting purpose as petals. In the middle of each Marsh Marigold flower are the female pistils, surrounded by male, pollen-bearing stamens.

Marsh Marigold roots, leaves, and young plants have been traditionally cooked and eaten, and the flowers buds can be pickled for capers, but this is not a plant I forage. Like many members of the Buttercup Family, Marsh Marigold contains a toxin called protoanemonin which can cause skin irritation if handled, and nausea, vomiting, and intestinal cramps if ingested raw. Drying the plants or cooking for 30 to 60 minutes in multiple changes of water destroys the toxin, but Marsh Marigold has been responsible for many hospitalizations and at least one documented fatality.

Marsh Marigold isn’t on my list of go-to wild foods, but it is among my favourite signs of spring on PEI Untamed!