Cornflower, also named bachelor’s button or bluebottle, is a member of the daisy family (Asteraceae) that flowers between May and August. The annuals plants can be up to 1 m tall with branched stems. The leaves are grey-green and hairy.
The ‘flowers’ are up to 3 cm in diameter and are in fact compound heads composed of numerous small individual flowers. These are an intense blue in color around the edge of the head, with smaller, purplish flowers in the center. Garden varieties have added red, pink, lilac and white to the color range, and even bright yellow is available.
In the past cornflowers often grew as weed in crop fields, hence its name. It is now endangered in its native habitat by agricultural intensification, particularly over-use of herbicides.