Description You know that thrill when you run across a new-to-you species in a genus you thought you knew well? Finding a mention of Cosmos caudatus did that for me. I was a little hesitant to try it, because I tend to have bad luck with the common Cosmos bipinnatus: That one grows beautifully for a while but, in many years, the stems start splitting just as the flowers are forming. I do have luck with Cosmos sulphureus, though, so I decided to give this species a try in 2025, and I was very pleased with it. I’d read that the plants could get up to 9 feet tall; mine were more like 6 feet, though, and only one or two of the stems ended up splitting. The pink flowers were small—about the size of a quarter—but there were hundreds of them, much to the delight of the wild finches who feasted on the seeds. (That, and the height of the stems, made collecting the seeds a bit of a challenge!) All of those good things make the plant interesting, but it comes with a surprising bonus feature: Ulam raja (king’s salad) has edible foliage and interesting potential medicinal uses as well. I have to admit that it took me a while to appreciate the flavor, but I eventually came to enjoy it mixed with other greens in salads. I definitely recommend sticking with the tender, young leaves; the flavor gets increasingly stronger as the foliage matures. Check other online resources to find more ways to use it as an edible (using it with peanuts or walnuts to make pesto definitely sounds interesting). Full sun to light shade. Annual. Collected in September and October 2025. At least 15 seeds per packet. Shipping to U.S. addresses only. Please read the germination information as well before ordering.
