Cosmos - Compositae or Asteraceae: A Field of Lovely Cosmos Along The Roadside

In South Africa, our country side explodes when the cosmos flowers bloom along side the roads, announcing the beginning of autumn. I always look forward to a long road trip during this time of the year so I can admire these wild beauties adorning our roads once again.

Cosmos is widespread over South Africa and is regarded as indigineous, it is part of the sunflower family and native to America where you will find most of the species in Mexico. It was introduced to South Africa via contaminated horse feed from Argentina.

Cosmos comes from the Greek word ‘kosmos’ which means ‘beautiful’. This flower is a bee and butterfly magnet as it offers easy access to nectar and pollen.

They are herbaceous annual plants, freely flowering and easy to grow as they self-sow, reaching 2 meters in height. They can handle drought, neglect, little water and even bad soil conditions.

Cosmos is a typical showy cottage garden flower which come in double and semi-double flowers of white, pink and maroon. They have a capitulum with florets and a center of disc florets. The leaves are simple, pinnate, or bipinnate, and arranged in opposite pairs.

These beauties have been a favourite subject of artists throughout the years.

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