Cosmos (plant)

Cosmos cultivar ' Strawberry Chocolate'

The Kosmeen (Cosmos ), also called Cosmos, are a genus of flowering plants in the sunflower family ( Asteraceae).

Description

Cosmos species and varieties are usually annual, rarely perennial herbaceous plants or rarely subshrubs. Depending on the type they reach heights of growth from 30 to 250 cm. The perennial species form tubers or tuberous rhizomes thickened as outlasting. The upright to creeping stems are unbranched or branched. The real against constantly mostly distributed to the stems arranged leaves are petiolate or sessile. The leaf blade is divided one to three times fiedrig. The leaflets usually have a smooth edge.

The bloom conditions are on long slender inflorescence stems together or in schirmtraubigen total inflorescences. The most eight (rarely five to seven) bracts are more or less in two rows. The inflorescence floor is mostly flat. The flower heads contain no rare or five, usually eight ( filled with so-called varieties are there more) tongue and usually 10 to 20, rarely up to more than 80 florets. The zygomorphic ray florets are asexual and can pink to purple or yellow through orange to red. The radial symmetry tubular flowers are hermaphroditic and all fertile; they are all yellow or orange rare. The short corolla tube of the tubular corolla ends in five Kronzähnen. The stamens are hairy near the dust bag.

The dark - brown to black achenes usually rarely have a pappus of two to four, up to eight bristles in the form of barbs; rarely no bristles are formed.

Dissemination

The genus Cosmos is widespread in tropical and subtropical America. The center of biodiversity is Mexico. It contains about 26, of which only four are in North America. Some species are used as ornamental plants and are then wild in many parts of the world.

System

The genus Cosmos now belongs to the tribe Coreopsideae in the subfamily of herbaceous within the sunflower family ( Asteraceae).

There are about 26 species of Cosmos (selection):

  • Chocolate Kosmee (Cosmos atrosanguineus ( Hook. ) Voss )
  • Cosmos or Common Kosmee ( Garden Cosmos Cav. )
  • Cosmos caudatus Kunth
  • Cosmos concolor Sherff
  • Cosmos carvifolius Benth.
  • Cosmos caudatus Kunth
  • Cosmos crithmifolius Kunth
  • Cosmos diversifolius Otto ex Knowles & Westc.
  • Cosmos herzogii Sherff
  • Cosmos intercedens Sherff
  • Cosmos landii Sherff
  • Cosmos linearifolius ( Sch.Bip. ) Hemsl.
  • Cosmos montanus Sherff
  • Cosmos palmeri B.L.Rob.
  • Cosmos parviflorus ( Jacq. ) Pers.
  • Cosmos peucedanifolius Wedd.
  • Cosmos pringlei B.L.Rob. & Fernald
  • Cosmos scabiosoides Kunth
  • Cosmos sessilis Sherff
  • Yellow Kosmee (Cosmos sulphureus Cav. )

Use

From Cosmos there are a number of hybrids cultivated forms that are used as ornamental plants in many colors and color combinations. In Europe, they bloom from summer to autumn, but are not hardy.

More images

Yellow Kosmee (Cosmos sulphureus ):

Swell

  • Robert W. Kiger: Cosmos in the Flora of North America, Volume 21, p 203: Online.
  • Cheers Gordon (ed.): Botanica, p 257, 2003, ISBN 3-8331-1600-5
Asteroideae Perennial plant Pappus (flower structure)
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