Elegant zinnia (Zinnia elegans) is a plant species in the Asteraceae, annual shrub, 76 cm high, solitary and showy flowers at the tip of the stem, easy to grow and prefers loam soils with full sun in forests, agricultural land, rice fields, irrigation canals, roadside and abandoned lands.
Z. elegans has an erect stem, few branches, tubular, green with white hairs, is not woody and breaks easily. The leaves are attached along the stem, opposite, in the shape of an elongated triangle, rounded base, pointed tip, green and sometimes have brown streaks.
Purple flower buds surrounding a black and yellow disc. The lanceolate leaves are opposite the flower head. Flowering occurs during the summer months. Elegant zinnia has hundreds of cultivars in many colors, sizes and flower shapes.
Flower colors range from white and cream to pink, red, purple, green, yellow, apricot, orange, salmon and bronze. Some have striped, speckled or two colored petals. This species grows well in dry, warm and winter-free areas.
TAXON
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Subfamily: Asteroideae
Tribe: Heliantheae
Subtribe: Zinniinae
Genus: Zinnia L. in Syst. Nat., ed. 10. 2: 1189, 1221, 1377 (1759)
Species: Zinnia elegans Jacq. in Ic. Pl. Rar. 3(11): 15 (1792)
HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS
Crassina elegans (Jacq.) Kuntze in Revis. Gen. Pl. 1: 331 (1891)
HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS
Crassina linearis (Benth.) Kuntze in Revis. Gen. Pl. 1: 331 (1891)
Zinnia australis F.M.Bailey in Dept. Agric. Brisbane Bot. Bull. 3: 14 (1891)
Zinnia elegans var. alba DC. in Prodr. 5: 536 (1836)
Zinnia elegans var. coccinea (Lindl.) DC. (1836)
Zinnia elegans var. purpurascens DC. (1836)
Zinnia elegans var. violacea (Cav.) DC. (1836)
Zinnia linearis Benth. in Pl. Hartw.: 17 (1839)
Zinnia linearis var. latifolia Rose in Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 1: 102 (1891)
Zinnia purpurea Laun. in Bon Jard. 1804: 474 (1804)
Zinnia violacea Cav. in Icon. 1: 57 (1791)
Zinnia violacea var. coccinea Lindl. in Edwards's Bot. Reg. 15: t. 1294 (1830)
PUBLICATIONS
Fosberg, F.R., Sachet, M.-H., Oliver, R. (1979). A geographical checklist of the Micronesian Dicotyledonae. Micronesica; Journal of the College of Guam 15: 41-295.
Ghafoor, A. & al. (2021). Flora of Pakistan 224: 1-310. Department of Botany, University of Karachi, Karachi.
Hammel, B.E., Grayum, M.H., Herrera, C. & Zamora, N. (eds.) (2020). Manual de Plantas de Costa Rica 4(1): 1-904. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis.
Hassler, M. & Muer, T. (2022). Flora Germanica: alle Farn- und Blütenpflanzen Deutschlands in Text und Bild 2: 865-1712. Verlag Regionalkultur, Uberstadt-Weiher.
Kozhevnikov, A.E., Kozhevnikov, Z.V., Kwak, M. & Lee, B.Y. (2019). Illustrated flora of the Primorsky Territory, Russian Far East: 1-1124. National institute of biological resources.
Mirek, Z., Piękoś-Mirkowa, H., Zając, A. & Zając, M (2020). Vascular plants of Poland an annotated checklist: 1-526. W. Szafer institute of botany, Polish academy of sciences, Krakow, Poland.
Nurtjahya, E. & al. (2026). Flowering Plants of Bangka Island: Native and Introduced. Acta Botanica Hungarica 68: 127-156.
Plunkett, G.M., Ranker, T.A., Sam, C. & Balick, M.J. (2022). Towards a checklist of the vascular flora of Vanuatu. Candollea 77: 105-118.
Sarder, N.U. & Hassan, M.A. (eds.) (2018). Vascular flora of Chittagong and the Chittagong Hill Tracts 3: 1-978. Bangladesh National Herbarium, Dhaka.
Urziceanu, M. & al. (2020). Updated list of non-native ornamental plants in Romania. Contributii Botanice Universitatea "Babes-Bolyai" din Cluj-Napoca 55: 59-82.
Werier, D. (2017). Catalogue of the Vascular plants of New York state. Memoirs of the Torrey Botanical Club 27: 1-542.
VERNACULAR NAME
Arabic: زينيا شائعة
Chinese (Simplified): 百日草 - 百日菊
Chinese (Traditional): 百日草 - 百日菊 (魚尾菊)
Croatian: Cinija
Czech: Ostálka sličná
Danish: Frøkenhat
Dutch: Gewone zinnia
English: Common Zinnia, Elegant Zinnia, Youth and age
Estonian: Harilik pruudisõlg
Finnish: Isotsinnia
French: Zinnia élégant
German: Zinnie
Hebrew: זיניה אלגנטית
Hungarian: Pompás rézvirág
Indonesian: Zinia Anggun
Italian: Zinnia
Japanese: ヒャクニチソウ - ジニア
Java: Kembang kertas, Kembang ratna
Korean: 백일홍
Polish: Cynia wytworna
Portuguese: Zínia
Russian: Цинния изящная
Slovak: Cínia pôvabná
Spanish: Carolina amarilla, Mal de ojo, San Rafael, Celia
Swedish: Zinnia
Thai: บานชื่น
Turkish: Kirli hanım çiçeği
Ukrainian: Цинія вишукана
Aryo Bandoro
Dlium TheDlium
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dlium