Cornflower

Centaurea cyanus

Please keep in mind that it is illegal to uproot a plant without the landowner's consent and care should be taken at all times not to damage wild plants. Wild plants should never be picked for pleasure and some plants are protected by law.
For more information please download the BSBI Code of Conduct PDF document.

Plant Data

Flowering Months:

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC

Order:

Asterales

Family:

Asteraceae (Daisy)

Also in this family:

Annual Sunflower, Autumn Hawkbit, Beaked Hawksbeard, Black Knapweed, Blanketflower, Blue Globe-thistle, Bristly Oxtongue, Butterbur, Canadian Fleabane, Canadian Goldenrod, Carline Thistle, Chalk Knapweed, Coltsfoot, Common Blue Sow-thistle, Common Cat's-ear, Common Daisy, Common Dandelion, Common Fleabane, Common Goldenrod, Common Groundsel, Common Mugwort, Common Ragwort, Corn Marigold, Creeping Thistle, Dwarf Thistle, Feverfew, Fox and Cubs, Goat's Beard, Greater Burdock, Greater Knapweed, Grey-headed Hawkweed, Heath Groundsel, Hemp Agrimony, Hoary Ragwort, Lesser Burdock, Marsh Cudweed, Marsh Ragwort, Marsh Thistle, Mexican Fleabane, Michaelmas Daisy, Mouse-ear Hawkweed, Musk Thistle, Narrow-leaved Ragwort, New England Hawkweed, Nipplewort, Ox-eye Daisy, Oxford Ragwort, Perennial Cornflower, Perennial Sow-thistle, Pineapple Mayweed, Ploughman's Spikenard, Pot Marigold, Prickly Lettuce, Prickly Sow-thistle, Red-seeded Dandelion, Rough Hawkbit, Scented Mayweed, Scentless Mayweed, Sea Mayweed, Seaside Daisy, Shaggy Soldier, Shrub Ragwort, Silver Ragwort, Smooth Hawksbeard, Smooth Sow-thistle, Sneezeweed, Sneezewort, Spear Thistle, Tansy, Trifid Bur-marigold, Wall Lettuce, Yarrow

Type:

Flower

Maximum Size:

80 centimetres tall

Habitats:

Farmland, gardens, meadows, roadsides, wasteland.

Flower:

Blue, 5 petals

An annual flower with deep blue with large ray-like outer florets extending to 2cm long.

Fruit:

Dark yellow-brown, elliptical achene, tipped with short orange to brown bristles. Approximately reaching 4mm in length and 2mm wide.

Leaves:

Alternate and pinnately lobed. Greyish-green, mostly entire. Upper leaves are long and linear. Lower leaves are slightly toothed margins. The undersides are white and woolly.

Other Names:

Bachelor's Button, Basket Flower, Bluebottle, Boutonniere Flower, Garden Cornflower, Hurtsickle.

Frequency (UK):

Occasionally seen

Similar Species:

Perennial Cornflower

Distribution Map

Reproduced by kind permission of the BSBI.

Click to open an Interactive Map