Cockscomb

Celosia argentea ‘Bombay Pink’

Synonyms:

Celosia cristata

Celosia argentea var. cristata 

BY

Pan American Seed

se-LO-see-uh  ar-JEN-tee-uh  kris-TAY-tuh

Synonyms of Celosia argentea (39) (Updated on 11-10-23): Amaranthus cristatus (L.) Noronha (1790), Amaranthus huttonii H.J.Veitch (1872), Amaranthus purpureus Dodoens ex Nieuwl. (1914), Amaranthus pyramidalis Noronha (1790), Celosia argentea var. cristata (L.) Kuntze (1891), Celosia argentea f. cristata (L.) Schinz (1934), Celosia argentea var. linearis E.Vilm. (1866), Celosia argentea var. margaritacea (L.) Iamonico (2013), Celosia argentea var. mumbaiana M.R.Almeida (2003), Celosia argentea var. plumosa (Barr & Sugden) Bakh.f. (unknown publication), Celosia argentea var. vera Kuntze (1891), *Celosia aurea J.Dix (1860), *Celosia aurea T.Moore (1861), Celosia castrensis L. (1762), Celosia cernua Roxb. (1820), Celosia cernua Andrews (1811), Celosia coccinea L. (1762), Celosia comosa Retz. (1791), Celosia cristata L. (1753), Celosia cristata var. castrensis (L.) Iamonico (2013), Celosia cristata var. humilis Hassk. (1842), Celosia debilis S.Moore (1916), Celosia huttonii Mast. (1872), Celosia japonica Houtt. (1777), Celosia japonica Mart. (1814), Celosia linearis Sweet ex Hook.f.(1885), Celosia margaritacea L.(1762), Celosia marylandica Retz. (1783), Celosia pallida Salisb. (1796), Celosia plumosa Barr & Sugden (1866), Celosia purpurea J.St.-Hil. (1808), Celosia pyramidalis Burm.f. (1768), Celosia spicata Barr & Sugden (1866) (nom. illeg.), Celosia splendens Schumach. & Thonn. (1827), Celosia stricta Hornem. (1819), Celosia swinhoei Hemsl. (1891), Chamissoa margaritacea (L.) Schouw (1847), Chamissoa stricta (Hornem.) Schouw (1847), Lophoxera comosa (Retz.) Raf. (1837), Lophoxera racemosa Raf. (1837). *POWO replaced Celosa aurea T.Moore (1861) with Celosia aurea J.Dix (1860). Most other databases still say Celosia aurea T.Moore so I have included both which makes 40 rather than 39 synonyms as shown on POWO. The editor of POWO said they found an earlier publication. The International Plant Names Index (IPNI) does not include Celosia aurea J.Dix as of 11-7-22 when this page was updated. I’m sure they will have it soon.

Celosia argentea are great plants and come in several shapes and sizes. Many cultivars are available to fit your needs and are easy to grow from seed.

As you see from the above list, there is a long list of synonyms for Celosia argentea. You will notice they are offered online (and catalogs) as Celosia argentea, Celosia argentea var. spicata, Celosia argentea var. cristata, Celosia spicata, Celosia cristata, etc. At the moment Celosia argentea is the accepted scientific and the other names are synonyms. It doesn’t particularly matter what growers call their plants as long as you get what you are looking for.

Celosia argentea L. is the accepted scientific name for the Cockscomb. The genus and species were both named and described as such by Carl von Linnaeus in the first edition of Species Plantarum in 1753.

Celosia cristata L., now a synonym, was also named and described as such by Carl von Linnaeus in the same edition of Species Plantarum in 1753. 

Also a synonym, Celosia argentea var. cristata (L.) Kuntze was first named and described as such by Carl Ernst Otto Kuntze in Revisio Generum Plantarum in 1891.

As of 11-10-23 when this page was last updated, Plants of the World Oline by Kew lists 46 species in the Celosia genus. It is a member of the plant family Amaranthaceae with 184 genera. Those numbers could change as updates are made on POWO.

THERE ARE A FEW LINKS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE FOR FURTHER READING.

I bought seeds of the Celosia ‘Bombay Pink’ from Johnny’s Selected Seeds in the spring of 2012. Now, I am not a pink person, but the photo of the flowers looked pretty neat, so I decided to give them a shot.

The seeds germinated OK but not great. But, I did take a few photos during their growth…

I thought it was pretty weird that they started out yellow, not pink. For a while, I thought something was screwy.

FINALLY, a hint of pink starts showing up but the flowers looked weird…

Now, folks, you know what they say? A photo is worth a thousand words… SO, what do the above photos tell you? I looked on Johnny’s website when I was writing this page, but it seems they aren’t offering this Celosia cultivar now. SO, I will share with you what the PanAmerican Seed Company says on its website.

Scientific Name: Celosia argentea

Common Name: Cockscomb

Blooming Season: Spring, Summer

Plant Habit: Upright

Height: 28 – 40″ (71 – 102cm)

Exposure: Partial Sun 

 

There, see! That photo from PanAmerican would make anyone drool!

I must say that I am not a pink person, but when I saw the photo of this flower I wanted to try them out. The plants grew fine but the flowers they produced were very disappointing. Maybe you have tried them out and had better luck.

I hope you enjoyed this page and maybe found it useful (perhaps entertaining). If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, I would like to hear from you. Please click on “like” if you visited this page. It helps us bloggers stay motivated. 🙂 You can check out the links below for further reading. The links take you directly to the genus and species of this plant. If you notice I made an error, please let me know.

FOR FURTHER READING:
PLANTS OF THE WORLD ONLINE (GENUS/SPECIES)
WIKIPEDIA (GENUS/SPECIES)
DAVE’S GARDEN
PANAMERICAN SEED
MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN
NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY