Blue Cornflower

The deep blue cornflower (Centaurea cyanus) used to grow prolifically across Britain’s wildflower meadows where it stood in stark contrast to that other well-known wildflower, the red Poppy. Its specific name, cyanus, literally means ‘dark blue’ in Greek.

Cornflowers, along with many other meadow herbs, have been the victim of pesticide use, destruction of field margins, the loss of certain crops in which it was a seed ‘contaminant’ (e.g. rye) and the cleaning of agricultural seed. These beautiful blue wildflowers are unfortunately no longer a common sight. The UK Biodiversity Action Plan has therefore listed cornflower as a priority species for action.

Cornflowers have played a long role in the wildflower meadows of Britain, but we don’t have the monopoly on this dark blue little flower. Our neighbours throughout Europe also value this beautiful blue herb.

The cornflower is the national flower of Estonia, one of the national flowers of Germany, the official flower of the Swedish province of Östergötland and the symbol of political parties in Swedish, Finland and Estonia associated with social liberalism.

However, the use of cornflower dates back even further to the ancient Greeks and Egyptians. The Egyptians believed that cornflower had the power to resurrect the dead – wreaths of cornflowers were found near to the tomb of Tutankhamun.