Find Your Ask the Expert: What is this flower?
Cockscomb - Celosia
It grows along my driveway among a ton of wildflowers….just moved into this place in East Tennessee and have never seen these before. Jan
Plant Expert Reply:
This interesting pink flower is commonly called cockscomb because it resembles the comb of a rooster. The genus name is Celosia. The perennial cockscomb is Celosia argentea and the annual types fall under Celosia spicata. The perennial cultivars of this plant will have either the crested, coral-like heads of tightly clustered flowers (combs) or open, feathery, pyramidal flowerheads. The annual cultivars will display open, compact, erect, cylindrical flower spikes. I am assuming by the look of the flower in the picture it is a Celosia argentea.
An interesting addition to the garden, Celosia is also a versatile flower for decorating. Florists use it both as a cut flower in fresh arrangements and as a dried flower in permanent arrangements. So enjoy this wonderful flower while you can – a killing frost will put them to rest for the winter.
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