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Centaurea cyanus
These bright blue flowers used to be classed as common arable weeds. Now they much scarcer.
Historically, the word ‘corn’ was used to mean grains such as wheat, barley, and oats. Cornflowers commonly grew amongst these arable crops, giving the plant its name.
The flowering plant is a distinctive bright blue colour. Cornflowers can grow to 90cm high, often rising above other plants. Their lower grey-green leaves are longer than their upper leaves.
There has been a dramatic decline in Cornflower numbers in the wild due to some modern agricultural practices.
Its populations began to recover in the late 1980s, particularly on unsprayed set-aside land and it is often included in wildflower replanting programmes.
Cornflower is found throughout the UK, though is rare in Scotland and Ireland.
It used to be classed as a common arable weed and could be found all over. However it is now seen a garden escape and more of a common sight in gardens that have been seeded with wildflowers.
In the wild, you will now find these flowers blooming in waste ground, scrub and road verges as well as some farmland.
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