Cornflower

From Free net encyclopedia

This article describes the flowering plant. For the foodstuffs, see cornflour.

{{Taxobox | color = lightgreen | name = Centaurea cyanus | image = CentaureaCyanus-bloem-kl.jpg | image_width = 240px | regnum = Plantae | divisio = Magnoliophyta | classis = Magnoliopsida | ordo = Asterales | familia = Asteraceae | genus = Centaurea | species = C. cyanus | binomial = Centaurea cyanus | binomial_authority = L. }}

Centaurea cyanus (Cornflower) is a small annual flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, native to Europe.

It is an annual plant growing to 40-90 cm tall, with grey-green branched stems. The leaves are lanceolate, 1-4 cm long. The flowers are an intense blue colour, produced in flowerheads (capitula) 1.5-3 cm diameter, with a ring of a few large, spreading ray florets surrounding a central cluster of disc florets.

In the past it often grew as a weed in crop fields. It is now endangered in its native habitat by agricultural intensification, particularly over-use of herbicides, destroying its habitat; in the United Kingdom it has declined from 264 sites to just 3 sites in the last 50 years. It is also however, through introduction as an ornamental plant in gardens and a seed contaminant in crop seeds, now naturalised in many other parts of the world, including North America and parts of Australia.

The Blue Cornflower has been the national flower of Estonia since 1968 and symbolizes daily bread to Estonians. It is also the symbol of the Estonian political party, Rahvaliit, and the Swedish political party, Folkpartiet. The Cornflower is also often seen as an inspiration for the romantic symbol of the Blue Flower.