Calendula is cultivated in the Balkans, North America, Eastern Europe, Germany and Turkey. It is annual in cold regions and it is perennial in warm and temperate regions. The stem of the plant, which is lignified only at the base, reaches a height of 20 cm when green and 50-60 cm when flowering. Lanceolate flowers are usually 2 cm, orange or egg-yellow or orange-yellow, dry glossy. Tubular flowers 15-20 mm, usually yellow, orange red, red-violet, sometimes brown. It is a multifunctional plant that can be grown in any sunny location in almost any type of soil. Calendula extract is actually the extract of a fresh calendula flower head.
It contains mono, sesquiterpenes, triterpenes, phenol acids, flavonoids, tannins and carotenoids. It also has antifungal, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties. It contains essential oil (0.97 %), amino acids, fats and fatty acids, calendin and calendulin as bitter substances.
Other compounds: α-cadinol, γ-cadinol, viridiflorol, τ-cadinol, (3.3-5.6%) and γ -muurolen, flavonoids, triterpenoids, glycosides, saponins, carotenoids, essential oils, amino acids, steroids, sterols and quinines