| Cosmos | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| C. bipinnatus wild in Oaxaca, Mexico | |
_(15183920495).jpg) | |
| C. sulphureus | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Asterales |
| Family: | Asteraceae |
| Subfamily: | Asteroideae |
| Tribe: | Coreopsideae |
| Genus: | Cosmos Cav.[1][2] |
| Synonyms[3] | |
| |
Cosmos is agenus, with the same common name ofcosmos, consisting offlowering plants in thedaisy family.[4][5]
The generic nameCosmos derives either from the Greek κόσμος (cosmos) '(ordered) world' – in reference to the neat, orderly arrangement of the floral structures[6] – or the Greek κόσμημα (kósmima) 'jewel' – in reference to the jewel-like colors of thecapitula (composite flowers).[7]
Cosmos areherbaceousperennial plants orannual plants growing 0.3–2 metres (1–6+1⁄2 ft) tall. Theleaves are simple,pinnate, or bipinnate, and arranged in opposite pairs. The flowers are produced in acapitulum with a ring of broad rayflorets and a center of disc florets; flower color varies noticeably between the different species. The genus includes severalornamental plants popular in gardens. Numeroushybrids andcultivars have been selected and named.
Kew'sPlants of the World Online accepts 35 species,[1] with the Compositae Working Group listing two more.[3]
Cosmos species arenative to scrub and meadowland in the Americas, fromColorado andMissouri in the United States, extending south throughMexico (where highest species diversity occurs, with 33 of the 35 species) and Central America to South America as far south as northernArgentina.[1]
One species,C. bipinnatus, isnaturalized across much of the eastern U.S. and eastern Canada.[8] The genus is also widespread over the high eastern plains ofSouth Africa, where it was introduced via contaminated horsefeed during theAnglo-Boer War.[9]
The South African Light Horse, having no baggage train and living largely off the country, were able to range widely across Natal. How widely can be seen from the spread of the beautiful pink cosmos flower, a native of Argentina which was imported into South Africa in the British Army's horse fodder. Just as cairns on the battlefields mark where soldiers fell, so their route is marked by the pink swathes of cosmos. As my children picked bunches of these lovely flowers for me I wondered if the seeds from which they originated had germinated in the belly of my grandfather's horse as he had ridden that way.
Data related toCosmos at Wikispecies| National | |
|---|---|
| Other | |
