Cosmos

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Asterids
Cladus: Campanulids
Ordo: Asterales

Familia: Asteraceae
Subfamilia: Asteroideae
Tribus: Coreopsideae
Genus: Cosmos
Sectiones: C. sect. Cosmos - C. sect. Discopoda - C. sect. Mesinenia

Species: C. atrosanguineus – C. bipinnatus – C. carvifolius – C. caudatus – C. concolor – C. crithmifolius – C. deficiens – C. diversifolius – C. gracilis – C. intercedens – C. jaliscensis – C. juxtlahuacensis – C. landii – C. linearifolius – C. longipetiolatus – C. mattfeldii – C. mcvaughii – C. modestus – C. montanus – C. nelsonii – C. nitidus – C. ochroleucoflorus – C. pacificus – C. palmeri – C. parviflorus – C. peucedanifolius – C. pilosus – C. pringlei – C. purpureus – C. reptans – C. scabiosoides – C. schaffneri – C. sessilis – C. sherffii – C. steenisiae – C. sulphureus
Name

Cosmos Cav., Icon. 1: 9 (1791).

Type species: Cosmos bipinnatus Cav.

Synonyms

Homotypic
Cosmea Willd., Sp. Pl., ed. 4 (Willdenow) 3(3): 2250 (1803), nom. illeg.

Distribution
Native distribution areas:

Continental: America
Argentina Northwest, Arizona, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil Northeast, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Colombia, Colorado, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Missouri, New Mexico, Nicaragua, Panamá, Peru, Texas, Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuela
Introduced into:
Afghanistan, Alabama, Andaman Is., Angola, Arkansas, Assam, Austria, Baltic States, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Brazil North, Brazil South, Bulgaria, California, Cameroon, Canary Is., Cape Provinces, Caroline Is., Cayman Is., Central African Repu, Connecticut, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Delaware, Dominican Republic, East European Russia, East Himalaya, Ecuador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Florida, France, Free State, French Guiana, Georgia, Germany, Great Britain, Guyana, Haiti, Hungary, Illinois, India, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Jawa, Kansas, Kazakhstan, Kentucky, Korea, Krym, KwaZulu-Natal, Leeward Is., Lesotho, Louisiana, Madagascar, Madeira, Maine, Marianas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mauritius, Michigan, Minnesota, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, New Caledonia, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New South Wales, New York, Nicobar Is., Niue, North Carolina, North Caucasus, Northern Provinces, Northern Territory, Norway, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Pakistan, Paraguay, Pennsylvania, Philippines, Poland, Primorye, Puerto Rico, Queensland, Québec, Rhode I., Rodrigues, Romania, Réunion, Samoa, Society Is., South Australia, South Carolina, South European Russi, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Tadzhikistan, Taiwan, Tennessee, Thailand, Tubuai Is., Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Utah, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Virginia, West Virginia, Western Australia, Windward Is., Wisconsin, Wyoming, Yugoslavia, Zambia, Zaïre, Zimbabwe

References: Brummitt, R.K. 2001. TDWG – World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, 2nd Edition
References
Primary references

Cavanilles, A.J. 1791. Icones et descriptiones plantarum, quae aut sponte in Hispania crescunt, aut in hortis hospitantur. Vol. I. iv + 67 pp., tab. 1–100. Ex Regia Typographia, Matriti [Madrid]. Biblioteca Digital Reference page. : 1: 9. t. 14.

Additional references

Farr, E. R. & Zijlstra, G. eds. (1996-) Index Nominum Genericorum (Plantarum) (2010) Febr 15 [1].
Sherff, E.E. 1933. Revision of the genus Cosmos. Bot. Ser. Field Mus. Nat. Hist. 8: 401–447.

Links

Govaerts, R. et al. 2023. Cosmos in Kew Science Plants of the World Online. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published online. Accessed: 2023 Marz. 24. Reference page.
Tropicos.org 2023. Cosmos. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published online. Accessed: 24 Marz. 2023.
Hassler, M. 2023. Cosmos. World Plants: Synonymic Checklists of the Vascular Plants of the World In: Roskovh, Y., Abucay, L., Orrell, T., Nicolson, D., Bailly, N., Kirk, P., Bourgoin, T., DeWalt, R.E., Decock, W., De Wever, A., Nieukerken, E. van, Zarucchi, J. & Penev, L., eds. 2023. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life. Published online. Accessed: 2023 Marz. 24. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2023. Cosmos. Published online. Accessed: Marz. 24 2023. Reference page.
USDA, ARS, Germplasm Resources Information Network. Cosmos Cav. in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Accessed: 2013-11-14.
Cosmos Cav. – Taxon details on Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).
Cosmos – Taxon details on National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI).
EOL: Cosmos

Vernacular names
Deutsch: Kosmeen
suomi: Kosmokset, kosmoskukat
français: Cosmos
magyar: Pillangóvirág
日本語: コスモス属
Nederlands: Cosmos
русский: Космея
svenska: Rosenskäresläktet
Türkçe: Kozmos
Tiếng Việt: Chi Cúc vạn thọ tây
中文: 秋英屬

Cosmos is a genus, with the same common name of cosmos, consisting of flowering plants in the daisy family.[4][5]
Name

The generic name Cosmos 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 the capitula (composite flowers).[7]
Description

Cosmos are herbaceous perennial plants or annual plants growing 0.3–2 m (1 ft 0 in – 6 ft 7 in) 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.
Distribution

Cosmos species are native to scrub and meadowland in the Americas, from Colorado and Missouri in the United States, extending south through Mexico (where highest species diversity occurs, with 33 of the 35 species) and Central America to South America as far south as northern Argentina.[1]
Species

Accepted species: 35 species are accepted by Kew's Plants of the World Online,[1] with two more listed by the Compositae Working Group.[3]

Cosmos atrosanguineus (Hook.) Voss
Cosmos bipinnatus Cav.
Cosmos carvifolius Benth.
Cosmos caudatus Kunth
Cosmos concolor Sherff
Cosmos crithmifolius Kunth
Cosmos deficiens (Sherff) Melchert
Cosmos diversifolius Otto ex Knowles & Westc.
Cosmos herzogii Sherff (treated by POWO as Bidens herzogii (Sherff) D.J.N.Hind)[1]
Cosmos intercedens Sherff
Cosmos jaliscensis Sherff
Cosmos juxtlahuacensis Panero & Villaseñor
Cosmos landii Sherff
Cosmos linearifolius (Sch.Bip.) Hemsl.
Cosmos longipetiolatus Melchert
Cosmos mattfeldii Sherff
Cosmos mcvaughii Sherff
Cosmos microcephalus Sherff (unplaced by POWO)[1]
Cosmos modestus Sherff
Cosmos montanus Sherff
Cosmos nelsonii B.L.Rob. & Fernald
Cosmos nitidus Paray
Cosmos ochroleucoflorus Melchert
Cosmos pacificus Melchert
Cosmos palmeri B.L.Rob.
Cosmos parviflorus (Jacq.) Pers.
Cosmos peucedanifolius Wedd.
Cosmos pringlei B.L.Rob. & Fernald
Cosmos pseudoperfoliatus Art.Castro, Harker & Aarón Rodr.
Cosmos purpureus (DC.) Benth. & Hook.f. ex Hemsl.
Cosmos ramirezianus Art.Castro, Harker & Aarón Rodr.
Cosmos scabiosoides Kunth
Cosmos schaffneri Sherff
Cosmos sessilis Sherff
Cosmos sherffii Melchert
Cosmos steenisiae Veldkamp
Cosmos sulphureus Cav.

Naturalization

One species, C. bipinnatus, is naturalized across much of the eastern United States and eastern Canada.[8] 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.[9]

References

"Cosmos Cav". Plants of the World Online. 2012-09-10. Retrieved 2025-05-10.
"Genus Cosmos Cav". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 1998-09-07. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2011-02-13.
Compositae Working Group (CWG). "Cosmos Cav." Global Compositae Database. Retrieved 2023-05-17.
Cavanilles, Antonio José. 1791. Icones et Descriptiones Plantarum 1(1): 9–10, pl. 14
Tropicos, Cosmos Cav.
Harvesting History https://harvesting-history.com/ . Retrieved at 23.02 on Saturday 27/7/24.
The joy of plants https://www.thejoyofplants.co.uk/cosmos Retrieved at 23.19 on Saturday 27/7/24.
Biota of North America Program 2013 county distribution maps
Sandys, Celia (2009). Chasing Churchill: The Travels of Winston Churchill. Hachette UK. p. 92. ISBN 978-0786740154. "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."