Cornflower🌼

An annual or biennial in the daisy family, native to Europe. Once a common weed in wheat fields, it has declined and is now endangered in Germany. Introduced to Japan in the Meiji period for flowerbeds and cut flowers, and often self-sows. The Japanese name likens the flower to a 'yaguruma' (pinwheel decoration at the top of a carp streamer). The famous 'cornflower blue' has given its name to a colour and a dye. A national flower of Germany and associated with the Prussian royal family; in France, the symbol of remembrance for the fallen of WWI.

Identification Points

• ✓Flower heads with large radiating ray florets in blue, purple, pink, or white
• ✓Linear to lanceolate leaves with woolly white hairs
• ✓40–90 cm tall

Morphological TraitsAI-estimated, needs verification

Phylogenetic Positionキク科 →