Aster flowers at Wylam, Northumberland
Cosmos is a genus, with the same common name of cosmos, consisting of flowering plants in the sunflower family.
Cosmos are herbaceous perennial plants or annual plants growing 0.3–2 m (1 ft 0 in–6 ft 7 in) tall. The leaves are simple, pinnate, or bipinnate, and arranged in opposite pairs. The flowers are produced in a capitulum with a ring of broad ray florets and a center of disc florets; flower color is very variable between the different species. The genus includes several ornamental plants popular in gardens. Numerous hybrids and cultivars have been selected and named.