Vascular Plants of North Carolina
Account for Garden Cosmos - Cosmos bipinnatus   Cavanilles
Members of Asteraceae:
Members of Cosmos with account distribution info or public map:
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Section 6 » Order Asterales » Family Asteraceae
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AuthorCavanilles
DistributionScattered in the Mountains, Piedmont, and Coastal Plain. First collected in 1935 in Edgecombe County. Specimens from Jackson and Wake counties are from cultivated plants.

Native of Mexico; in N.A. ME to Ont., MN, NE, and CO, south to FL, TX, NM, CA.
AbundanceRare.
HabitatRoadsides, railroad margin, disturbed soil.
PhenologyFlowering and fruiting June-October.
IdentificationThe very large flowers, pink rays with yellow disc, and threadlike leaf segments will identify it. This is a quite familiar garden plant, and cultivated ones may come in many different ray colors. Stands of it are planted by the NC Dept. of Transportation along interstate roadsides, to "distract" drivers with the bright colors of the flowers!
Taxonomic Comments
Other Common Name(s)
State RankSE
Global RankGNR
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