Herbs, annual.
Stems erect, to 1 m, glabrous.
Leaves: petiole 1-3 cm; blade unlobed, ovate, lanceolate, or nearly linear, 8-15 × 1-6 cm, base tapering, apex long-acuminate.
Inflorescences dense cylindric or ovoid spikes, units 13-20 mm diam.
Flowers: tepals silvery white or pinkish, 3-veined, 6-8 mm, scarious, translucent; style elongate, 4 mm, indurate and exserted at maturity; stigmas 3.
Utricles 4 mm.
Seeds 3-8, 1.5 mm diam., smooth, shiny.
2n = 72. Flowering summer. Waste places, weedy areas; 0-1400 m; introduced; Ala., Fla., Ind., Ky., La., Md., N.J., N.C., Pa., S.C., Tenn., Tex., Utah, W.Va.; West Indies; South America; native to Asia (India).
Celosia argentea is locally escaped from cultivation, and perhaps originally native to India.