Cosmos caudatus H.B.K., Asteraceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

English: cosmos

Habit:  herb

Description: 

Genus: "Annual or perennial herbs with opposite leaves; flowering heads heterogamous, radiate, mediuim-sized, solitary or in loose corymbiform clusters, long-pedunculate, the phyllaries in 2 series, connate at base, the outer ones herbaceous, the inner ones membranous, longitudinally brown-orange- or purple-striate, the receptacle with flat or somewhat concave, narrowly oblong, acute paleae; ray flowers in 1 series, usually 5 or 8, neuter, the limb of the corolla obovate, entire or dentate at apex; disk flowers numerous, perfect, fertile, the corolla tubular, 5-lobed, the anther bases entire, subsagittate, or auriculate, the style branches flattened distally and outwardly densely tufted, with the tip acute or sagittate or more commonly ending in an apiculate awnlike appendage; achenes linear-fusiform, more or less quadrangular, compressed, commonly beaked, the pappus generally of 2-4 stiff, retrorsely barbed awns from the summit of the achinial beak" (Smith, 1991; p. 283).

Species:  "Coarse herb 0.3-2 m high."  (Smith, 1991)."Pales acute or obtuse; outer involucral bracts linear-lanceolate, acute, inner ones oblong or oblong-lanceolate, obtuse or acute.  Petiole 1-7 cm; leaflets or leaf-segments linear or lanceolate, with finely ciliate margins, glabrous, 2-8 mm wide.  Achenes, especially the central ones, long-beaked; beak with obliquely patent bristles, with 2-3 apical awns.  Ligule of marginal flowers reddish or violet, 1-1 1/2 cm by c. 1/2 cm; peduncles 5-22 cm; achenes glabrous or thinly shortly hairy, 1-3 cm long.  Stem glabrous or thinly hairy; leaves 3-4-pinnate or 3-4-pinnatipartite, 4-20 cm (petiole disregarded) by 3-15 cm; leaflets or segments 2-8 mm wide."  (Backer and Bakhuizen van den Brink, 1965; pp. 413-414).

Habitat/ecology:  In Fiji, "occurring from sea level to about 200 m, sometimes cultivated but frequently naturalized as a weed in waste places and along roadsides"  (Smith, 1991; p. 283).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  West Indies and Central America, widely cultivated and sometimes naturalized (Smith, 1991; p. 283).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Fiji Fiji Islands	Lakemba Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Smith, Albert C. (1991) (p. 284) Voucher cited: Garnock-Jones 907
Fiji Fiji Islands	Vanua Levu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Smith, Albert C. (1991) (p. 284) Voucher cited: DA 12958, DA 10499
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Smith, Albert C. (1991) (p. 284) Vouchers cited: Greenwood 169, DA 10283, DA 10184, DA 11321, DA 11347, DA 9539, DA 12110
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 242)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced	Wester, Lyndon (1992) (p. 128)
Palau Palau (main island group)	Angaur Island	introduced invasive	Space, James C./Waterhouse, Barbara/Miles, Joel E./Tiobech, Joseph/Rengulbai, Kashgar (2003) (p. 103) Cosmos sp.
Palau Palau (main island group)	Babeldaob Island	introduced invasive	Space, James C./Waterhouse, Barbara/Miles, Joel E./Tiobech, Joseph/Rengulbai, Kashgar (2003) (p. 100) Cosmos sp.
Palau Palau (main island group)	Koror Island	introduced invasive	Space, James C./Waterhouse, Barbara/Miles, Joel E./Tiobech, Joseph/Rengulbai, Kashgar (2003) (p. 96) Cosmos sp.
Papua New Guinea Bismarck Archipelago	Bismarck Archipelago	introduced invasive cultivated	Peekel, P. G. [translated by E. E. Henty] (1984) (p. 565) Cultivated and half-wild.
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands	introduced invasive	Merrill, Elmer D. (1923) (p. 614) A common weed in open waste places, fallow lands, etc., at low and medium altitudes.

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Australia (continental)		Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. (1979) (p. 101)
Colombia Colombia	Colombia (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Costa Rica Costa Rica	Costa Rica (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Ecuador (Mainland) Ecuador	Ecuador (Republic of) (continental)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
El Salvador El Salvador	El Salvador (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Honduras Honduras	Honduras (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Nicaragua Nicaragua	Nicaragua (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Panama Panama	Panama (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

Additional information:
Additional online information about Cosmos caudatus is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Cosmos caudatus as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Cosmos caudatus may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Backer, C. A./Bakhuizen van den Brink, R. C. 1965. Flora of Java, Vol. 2. N.V. P. Noordhoff, Groningen, The Netherlands. 641 pp.

Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. 1979. A geographical atlas of world weeds. John Wiley & Sons, New York. 391 pp.

Merrill, Elmer D. 1923. An enumeration of Philippine flowering plants, vol. 3 [reprint]. Bureau of Printing, Manila. 628 pp.

Peekel, P. G. [translated by E. E. Henty]. 1984. Flora of the Bismarck Archipelago for naturalists. Office of Forests, Division of Botany, Lae, Papua New Guinea. 638 pp. ISBN 9980-66-000-7.

Smith, Albert C. 1991. Flora Vitiensis nova: a new flora of Fiji. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Kauai, Hawaii. Volume 5. 626 pp.

Space, James C./Waterhouse, Barbara/Miles, Joel E./Tiobech, Joseph/Rengulbai, Kashgar. 2003. Report to the Republic of Palau on invasive plant species of environmental concern. USDA Forest Service, Honolulu. 174 pp.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. 1999. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawaii. Revised edition. Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication. University of Hawai‘i Press/Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 1919 pp. (two volumes).

Wester, Lyndon. 1992. Origin and distribution of adventive flowering plants in Hawai‘i. In: Stone, Charles P.; Smith, Clifford W. and Tunison, J. Timothy. Alien plant invasions in native ecosystems of Hawaii: Management and Research. University of Hawaii, Cooperative National Park Research Studies Unit, Honolulu. University of Hawaii Press. .