Makhamal / King's Salad
Cosmos caudatus
- Habit
- Herb
- Found in India
- Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala & more
- Flowering
- August-April
How to identify Makhamal
Identify Makhamal by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a herb habit.
- Confirm leaf surface: Glabrous (smooth, hairless).
- Confirm flower colour: Pink.
- Confirm flower arrangement: Solitary.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: August-April.
- In India, compare location records such as Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and nearby regions.
- Confirm it sits within the Asteraceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is Makhamal.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Cosmos caudatus
- Genus
- Cosmos
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Habit
- Herb
- Habitat
- Cultivated
- Habitat type
- Cultivated
- Native to
- Central America
- Distribution
- West Indies, Central America, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, India, Philippines
- Found in India
- Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Telangana, Uttarakhand
- Flowering & fruiting
- August-April
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Leaf surface
- Glabrous (smooth, hairless)recorded
Typical of the family
- Arrangement
- Alternate
Characters marked “recorded” are for Makhamal itself; the rest are typical of the Asteraceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower colour
- Pinkrecorded
- Flower arrangement
- SolitaryrecordedA single flower borne alone, not in a cluster.“The flowers can be found solitary or in a loose clusters and are produced on a single stalk on auxiliary heads.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Head
- Fruit
- Achene
Characters marked “recorded” are for Makhamal itself; the rest are typical of the Asteraceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Marathi
- मखमल Makhamal
About Makhamal
A member of the Asteraceae family, King's salad (Cosmos caudatus) is a herb. In India it has been recorded in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala and 8 other states. It is cultivated. Flowering and fruiting run from August to April.
Asteraceae
Daisy/Sunflower family
Makhamal belongs to the Asteraceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
Explore the Asteraceae familySnap it. Know it.
Point your camera at Makhamal or any plant and SASYA identifies it instantly — on-device, offline, and private.
Common plant problems
If you are starting from symptoms instead of a diagnosis, use the plant disease symptom checker to narrow the cause before treating.
All plant problem & care guides