cornflower

Field poppies (Papaver rhoeas) and cornflowers (Centaurea cyanus). These plants were once common among arable crops but their numbers have dwindled in Britain with the advent of intensive agriculture and the growing use of herbicides. Both species flower from May until August, in northern Europe.

Native European and Asian plant belonging to the same genus as the knapweeds but distinguished from them by its deep azure-blue flowers. Formerly a common weed in northern European wheat fields, it is now widely grown in gardens as a herbaceous plant with flower colours ranging from blue through shades of pink and purple to white. (Centaurea cyanus, family Compositae.)