King's salad (Cosmos caudatus)

King's salad, a reference photo — Photo: Dinesh Valke from Thane, India · CC BY-SA 2.0 (licence)

Cosmos caudatus or king's salad is an annual plant in the genus Cosmos, bearing purple, pink, or white ray florets. It is native to Latin America (from Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil to Tamaulipas in northeastern Mexico), and the West Indies, though naturalized in tropical parts of Asia, Africa, and Australia.

From Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Is it poisonous?

We have no record of King's salad being toxic, poisonous or venomous. That is not proof that it is safe. Never eat, touch or handle a wild plant, mushroom or animal on the strength of an identification; ask someone qualified.

Easily confused with

Cosmos bipinnatus
Cosmos peucedanifolius
Bidens aequisquama
Cosmos crithmifolius

Classification

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Cosmos
Species: Cosmos caudatus

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