Common Australian Garden Weeds

Tagetes minuta

Scientific name: Tagetes minuta L.


Habit of stinking roger (Tagetes minuta) showing the dissected leaves and small yellowish flower-heads.


Large clusters of mature flower-heads at the tips of the stems.


Close-up of the mature flower-heads which turn brown in colour.

Common name: Stinking roger

Family: Asteraceae

Origin:

Native of South America.

Habit:

Annual herb with stiff erect stems 10 cm to over 2 m tall.

Habitat:

Weed of roadsides, creek banks, disturbed or neglected sites, sometimes a weed of pastures and cultivation. Prefers damp soils.

General description:

Stems and leaves
The leaves are light green, hairless and with leaf stalks (petioles) up to 3 cm long and deeply divided blades up to 15 cm long. The leaf blade is dissected into elliptic-elongated leaflets (1-7 x 0.2-1.1 cm in size) with margins that are toothed. Glands can be found in the clefts between these teeth on the margins. Crushed plants have a very distinctive, unpleasant, and strong marigold-like smell.
Flowers and fruit
Flower-heads are cylindrical (10 x 2 mm in size), dull yellow, and borne in clusters at the tips of the stems. Flowering occurs from summer to autumn. The seeds are black, 7-8 mm long and narrow, with a ring (pappus) of 4-6 bristles at one end.

Distinguishing features:

Annual herb with erect stems, deeply divided yellow-green leaves, and clusters of dull yellow cylindrical flower-heads. The marigold-like smell of the plants is distinctively sharp and unpleasant, hence its common name, stinking roger.

Noxious status:

Not noxious.

Sources:

Kleinschmidt, H.E., Holland, A. and Simpson, P. (1996). Suburban Weeds. 3rd Edition. Department of Primary Industries, Brisbane.

Stanley, T.E. and Ross, E.M. (1983-1989). Flora of South-eastern Queensland. Volume 2. Department of Primary Industries, Brisbane.

Auld, B.A. and Medd, R.W. (1996). Weeds: An Illustrated Guide to the Weeds of Australia. Inkata Press, Sydney.