Centaurea cyanus

CENTAUREA cyanus
Cornflower, Bachelor's Buttons

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Type:
Annual

Height: 6-15" (15-35cm)

Flowering Time: Summer

Flower Colour: Blue, purple, pink, white

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Botanical Classification:

Class:
Angiospermae (Angiosperms)

Subclass: Dicotyledonae (Dicotyledons)

Superorder: Asteridae (Daisy Superorder)

Order: Asterales (Daisy Order)

Family: Asteraceae (Daisy Family)

Genus: Centaurea (Cornflower)

Species: cyanus (blue)

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Centaurea cyanus is a hardy annual formerly familiar as a cornfield weed before the advent of modern farming methods and weedkillers. It is an annual, growing to a height of 1'-2', with strong stems and greyish slightly furry leaves, with small clusters of bright blue flowers. Garden hybrids come in all shades of blue, pinks and white, in heights ranging from just a few inches to around 2'. Centaurea cyanus is good for a wild garden, a border or rockery, and is a useful cut flower.
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Harvesting and Growing from Seed:

Germination:
Spring
Inside
(10 days)

Seed Pod There is no seedpod. The seeds are held together on the seedhead, enclosed
by scaly brown bracts.
Seed The seeds are like miniature old-fashioned shaving brushes, with a pearly white shiny base
and a tuft of light brown hairs. There are many seeds on the seedhead.
Seedling The seedleaves are long and thin, and the first true leaves are long, thin and greyish.

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				Germination: Spring Inside (10 days)
Seed Pod There is no seedpod. The seeds are held together on the seedhead, enclosed by scaly brown bracts. Seed The seeds are like miniature old-fashioned shaving brushes, with a pearly white shiny base and a tuft of light brown hairs. There are many seeds on the seedhead. Seedling The seedleaves are long and thin, and the first true leaves are long, thin and greyish.