Cosmos (plant)
Cosmos is a genus, with the same common name of cosmos, consisting of flowering plants in the daisy family.
Name
The generic name Cosmos derives either from the Greek κόσμος ' world' – in reference to the neat, orderly arrangement of the floral structures – or the Greek κόσμημα 'jewel' – in reference to the jewel-like colors of the capitula.Description
Cosmos are herbaceous perennial plants or annual plants growing tall. The leaves are simple, pinnate, or bipinnate, and arranged in opposite pairs. The flowers are produced in a capitulum with a ring of broad ray florets and a center of disc florets; flower color varies noticeably between the different species. The genus includes several ornamental plants popular in gardens. Numerous hybrids and cultivars have been selected and named.Species
Kew's Plants of the World Online accepts 35 species, with the Compositae Working Group listing two more.Cosmos atrosanguineus VossCosmos bipinnatus Cav.Cosmos carvifolius Benth.Cosmos caudatus KunthCosmos concolor SherffCosmos crithmifolius KunthCosmos deficiens MelchertCosmos diversifolius Otto ex Knowles & Westc.Cosmos herzogii Sherff Cosmos intercedens SherffCosmos jaliscensis SherffCosmos juxtlahuacensis Panero & VillaseñorCosmos landii SherffCosmos linearifolius Hemsl.Cosmos longipetiolatus MelchertCosmos mattfeldii SherffCosmos mcvaughii SherffCosmos microcephalus Sherff Cosmos modestus SherffCosmos montanus SherffCosmos nelsonii B.L.Rob. & FernaldCosmos nitidus ParayCosmos ochroleucoflorus MelchertCosmos pacificus MelchertCosmos palmeri B.L.Rob.Cosmos parviflorus Pers.Cosmos peucedanifolius Wedd.Cosmos pringlei B.L.Rob. & FernaldCosmos pseudoperfoliatus Art.Castro, Harker & Aarón Rodr.Cosmos purpureus Benth. & Hook.f. ex Hemsl.Cosmos ramirezianus Art.Castro, Harker & Aarón Rodr.Cosmos scabiosoides KunthCosmos schaffneri SherffCosmos sessilis SherffCosmos sherffii MelchertCosmos steenisiae VeldkampCosmos sulphureus Cav.Distribution
Cosmos species are native to scrub and meadowland in the Americas, from Colorado and Missouri in the United States, extending south through Mexico and Central America to South America as far south as northern Argentina.One species, C. bipinnatus, is naturalized across much of the eastern U.S. and eastern Canada. The genus is also widespread over the high eastern plains of South Africa, where it was introduced via contaminated horsefeed during the Anglo-Boer War.