Leaves opposite, sessile or with 2 ± widened and clasping petioles, lobed or 1-3-pinnatisect
Capitula radiate, solitary on terminal and lateral branches, long-peduncled
Involucre subhemispheric; bracts in 2 rows, connate basally, membranous
Receptacle flat
Ray florets neuter; corolla white, pink, lilac or orange, strap-shaped, entire or subdentate
Disc florets many, bisexual, fertile; corolla yellowish, cylindric but widening slightly near apex, equally 5-toothed terminally
Style with branches slender, thickened above, hirtellous, tipped with short and acute appendages
Stamens with hirsute filaments
Cypselas linear, ± fusiform-tetragonal, usually compressed, apically usually attenuate into beak
Pappus of 2-4(-8) barbellate or scabrid awns
x = 12 (11, 13, 17) (aneuploids, polyploidy, B-chromosomes)
Nomenclature:
*Cosmos Cav.
Cavanilles: 9 (1791)
Henderson & Anderson: 356 (1966)
Correll & Johnston: 1664 (1970)
Karis & Ryding: 615 (1994)
Distribution & Notes:
Global: Species 26, in tropical and warm regions of America, especially Mexico
Southern Africa: Species 2, weeds: *Cosmos bipinnatus Cav. known from the Northern Province, North-West, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Free State and Lesotho, and *C. sulphureus Cav. from KwaZulu-Natal
References:
CAVANILLES, A.J. 1791. Icones et descriptiones plantarum 1. Typographia regia, Madrid
CORRELL, D.S. & JOHNSTON, M.C. 1970. Fam. 174. Compositae. Manual of the vascular plants of Texas. George Banta Company, Wisconsin
HENDERSON, M. & ANDERSON, J.G. 1966. Common weeds in South Africa. Memoirs of the Botanical Survey of South Africa No. 37
KARIS, P.O. & RYDING, O. 1994. Tribes Helenieae and Heliantheae. In K. Bremer, Asteraceae, cladistics and classification. Timber Press, Portland, Oregon
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Welcome to Biodiversity Advisor 2.0!
Biodiversity Advisor, developed by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) and its Data Partners, is a system that will provide integrated biodiversity information to a wide range of users who will have access to geospatial data, plant and animal species distribution data, ecosystem-level data, literature, images and metadata.
The integrated information comes from our much-loved Botanical Database of Southern Africa (BODATSA) also known as Plants of Southern Africa (POSA), Zoological Database of Southern Africa (ZODATSA), Biodiversity Geographic Information System (BGIS), SANBI's institutional repository (Opus) and others.
The system is still under development, so you may find a few bugs/issues. If you do, please report it via the error reporting button available in various sections of the website or provide us with any useful feedback you may have via the ‘Give us feedback’ option available in the sidebar menu. You can create a free account for yourself by clicking on the user profile icon which will take you through to the login page. Here you can choose the ‘Create an account’ option or simply fill in your details if you have an account already. Having an account on Biodiversity Advisor will provide users with free access to biodiversity resources.
In future, Team SANBI will be able to log in using their day-to-day login details, BGIS users will be able to use their existing accounts and details, and general users will be able to log in using their LinkedIn profile, but for now you will need to create an account.
