Seasonal Wild Flowers

Cornflower

Centaurea cyanus

Asteraceae

June to October

It is patchily scattered throughout the country and is least

common in the North.

See the BSBI distribution map for Cornflower

It is an archaeophyte which has been in the UK since the

Iron Age and used to be a serious weed of arable

agriculture.

Since the 1980s, cornflower has increased due to its

inclusion in wild flower seed mixtures and as a garden

escape.

It is found in waste ground and rubbish tips, and beside

roads and paths.

Cornflower is a conspicuous, annual herb growing to 80cm.

Flowers are blue with expanded outer florets up to 4cm.

The upper leaves are thin and lanceolate.

Previous page: Corncockle
Next page: Corn Marigold

Cornflower from a wild flower

seed mixture

Newly open flower - from above

Side view

Upper leaves

Flower with hoverfly, Scaeva pyrastri