Galapagos Species Database

The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.

Celosia argentea L.

Photo: .
Photo: .

Herbs, annual. Stems erect, to 1 m, glabrous. Leaves: petiole 1-3 cm; blade unlobed, ovate, lanceolate, or nearly linear, 8-15 × 1-6 cm, base tapering, apex long-acuminate. Flowers: tepals silvery white or pinkish, 3-veined, 6-8 mm, scarious, translucent; style elongate, 4 mm, indurate and exserted at maturity; stigmas 3. Utricles 4 mm. Seeds 3-8, 1.5 mm diam., smooth, shiny. 2n = 72. (WFO, 2022)

It is used as animal food, a poison and a medicine, has environmental uses and social uses and for food.

Taxonomy

Domain
Eukaryota

Kingdom
Plantae

Phylum
Magnoliophyta

Class
Magnoliopsida (= Dicotyledoneae)

Order
Caryophyllales

Family
Amaranthaceae

Genus
Celosia

Species
argentea

Taxon category: Accepted

Syn.: Celosia argentea var. cristata (L.) Kuntze; Syn.: Celosia cristata L. Celosia argentea var. argentea.

Taxon origin: Introduced - established

Introduction

Mode of introduction: Intentional

Introduction Pathway: Intentional

Subpathway: Agriculture/Horticulture

Introduced status: Naturalized

Year of first record: 1983

Distribution

Map of specimen collection localities or observation records for this species in our collections database.

Distribution: Its native range is Tropical Africa.

References

  • Jørgensen, P.M. León-Yánez, S. (eds.) (1999) Catalogue of the Vascular Plants of Ecuador. Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 75. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis, 1181 pp.
You are welcome to download and use the information found in this page, acknowledging the origin of the data.
This page should be cited as follows:
"Galapagos Species Database, Celosia argentea", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=11193. Accessed 28 June 2024.