Cornflower
Scientific Name: Centaurea cyanus L.
Family: Asteraceae
MORPHOLOGY
Habit and Size: Annual herbaceous plant, occasionally biennial; slender taproot, 30-70 (100) cm tall.
Stem: Single or branched-corymbous stem, rigid, ascending, striated, with whitish cobweb-like tomentose hairiness.
Leaves: Grayish-green leaves, basal ones petiolate, lyrate-shaped with lanceolate outline with 2-4 lobes (3-8 x 20-70 mm) with larger terminal lobe, covered with woolly hairs above and cottony below; cauline leaves sessile (2-3 cm), entire, narrow, linear-lanceolate and not decurrent, tapering at the base.
Flowers: Inflorescence in a 2-3 cm diameter head, on elongated and erect aphyllous branches. Pyriform involucre of 9-15(16.5) x 4-9 mm. Outer involucral bracts formed by sparsely tomentose scales with brownish, scarious, fringed appendix (± 6 cilia of 0.3 mm), and black-silvery; inner ones longer with denticulate apex (1 mm). All flowers tubular, blue-violet in color, divided into 5 lobes, the outer ones rayed, sterile, the inner ones (florets) hermaphroditic. Blooms between April and August.
Fruits and Seeds: The fruit is an achene of 3-4 mm, gray-brown in color, covered with scattered hairs and with reddish pappus equipped with biseriate bristles (outer ones as long as the achene, inner ones 1-2 mm).
DISTRIBUTION AND HABITAT
Present throughout Italy, especially in cereal fields, now endangered due to excessive use of herbicides. Found between 0 and 1,500 m.
USE
In folk medicine, the plant is used in the form of a decoction to treat conjunctivitis, edema, gout, rheumatism, stye, and as a diuretic. In homeopathy, it is used to treat: flu attacks, menstrual cycle disorders, constipation, and liver disorders. Before taking any plant-based product (medicinal or non-medicinal) for therapeutic or similar purposes, it is always advisable to consult your doctor first. In cooking, a dye is extracted from the leaves, used for desserts.
INTERESTING FACTS
It is a naturalized allochthonous plant, arrived in Italy from the Middle East in pre-Roman times with the development of cereal cultivation. “Cyanin” is a dye, although not used to dye fabrics because it is easily degraded by light and acids.
Photo: Under the free license of Saxifraga and Dirk Hilbers, Rutger Barendse, Rudmer Zwerver.
