Stats

Lifespan: Annual
Size: Medium
Diet: Photosynthetic
Activity: Diurnal
Social: Solitary
Biome: Tropical grassland
Range: Tropics worldwide
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Seeds
Status: Common

About

A genus of tropical amaranth-family plants grown worldwide as flamboyant ornamentals, named for flower heads that come in two famous forms: the velvety, folded 'cockscomb' crests that look like brain coral or a rooster's comb, and the soft upright plumes. Blooms blaze in reds, magentas, oranges, and golds and hold their color when dried; the young leaves are eaten as a leaf vegetable across Africa and Asia.

Life cycle

1.
seed
A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2.
sprout
A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3.
sapling
A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4.
mature
Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

Learn more

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Amaranthaceae
Genus: Celosia