calendula

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A Mediterranean annual plant (Calendula officinalis) in the composite family, widely cultivated for its showy, yellow or orange, rayed flower heads that were formerly used in medicine, coloring, and flavoring of food. Also called pot marigold.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A genus of plants, natural order Compositœ, with yellow or orange flowers, having a powerful but not pleasant odor, natives of the Mediterranean region; the marigolds. The common or pot marigold, C. officinalis, is an old ornament of country gardens. Its flowers are used to give a yellow color to cheese, and to adulterate saffron. In medicine it has had repute as a remedy for cancer and other diseases, and its tincture is used as a cure for wounds and bruises.
2. n. In ornith.: An old and disused name of the crested wren of Europe, Regulus cristatus. Brisson, 1760.
3. n. The specific name of the ruby-crowned kinglet of North America, Regulus calendula.
4. n. [capitalized] [NL.] A genus of African larks, of which C. crassirostris is an example.

Wiktionary

1. n. botany Any plant of the genus Calendula, with yellow or orange flowers, often called marigolds.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. (Bot.) A genus of composite herbaceous plants. One species, Calendula officinalis, is the common marigold, and was supposed to blossom on the calends of every month, whence the name.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. any of numerous chiefly annual herbs of the genus Calendula widely cultivated for their yellow or orange flowers; often used for medicinal and culinary purposes