Cosmos

Cosmos — Cosmos is a genus of about 20-26 species of annual and perennial plants in the family Asteraceae, native to scrub and meadow areas in Mexico (where the bulk of the species occur), the southern United States (Arizona, Florida), Central America and northern South America south to Paraguay. A cosmos flower is said to represent the ‘heart of a girl’.

They are herbaceous perennial plants growing 0.3-2 m 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 is very variable between the different species.

The genus includes several ornamental plants popular in gardens, including Cosmos bipinnatus (also known as “Mexican Aster”), C. atrosanguineus (“Chocolate Cosmos”) and Cosmos sulphureus (“Yellow Cosmos”). Numerous hybrids and cultivars have been selected and named.