Cornflowers, having high decorative qualities, are an excellent raw material for pharmacology. Due to the huge amount of useful substances, the range of application of this plant is quite wide - from the treatment of ocular inflammatory processes to the elimination of urinary tract diseases. Cornflower is also widely used in landscape design to create magnificent compositions in a natural style.
Where do cornflowers most often grow in natural conditions? What are the features of the conditions of their growth and where are they used? All this can be found in this article.
General information
There are many stories and legends about these flowers. In ancient Rome, this plant was called cyanus (blue), in honor of a handsome blue-eyed young man who collected these flowers for garlands and wreaths. According to another version, the name centaurea in Latin means "one hundred yellow flowers".
During excavations in Egypt, goodA surviving wreath of cornflowers was found in the tomb of Tutankhamun. Cornflower according to the horoscope belongs to those who were born in July. In magic, it is considered the herb of charm. In ancient times, cornflower flowers were used to dye wool blue.
Among other things, cornflower is an excellent medicinal plant. Its flowers have choleretic, diuretic and antimicrobial properties. They are also used as lotions for eye diseases.
About where field cornflowers grow, bringing so much benefit, and where to collect them, information is presented in the article.
Main varieties
Vasilek Taliyeva is a rare and little-studied species from the Red Book of the Belgorod Region and Russia
- Cornflower blue - a plant that got its name in honor of the centaur Chiron, who was the mentor of many famous ancient Greek heroes: Hercules, Asclepius, Jason, Achilles, etc. According to legend, Chiron used cornflower in healing wounds. The following article provides more details on where blue cornflowers grow.
- Russian cornflower, listed in the Red Book of the Belgorod region as a rare species.
- Phrygian cornflower is a wonderful honey plant.
- Cornflower false-spotted, blooming with magnificent pink flowers.
- Rough cornflower, or voloshka, is a honey-bearing and beautiful ornamental plant.
- Cornflower meadow is a good honey plant. Occasionally, hybrids of Phrygian and meadow cornflower can be found (more details on wherecornflowers of this species grow, later in the article).
- Oriental cornflower is a plant common on chalk outcrops.
- Marshall's cornflower is a plant growing on marl and chalk outcrops.
Cornflower meadow
This is a herbaceous perennial plant with a height of 20 to 100 centimeters. Strong, erect, slightly rough to the touch shoots branch in the upper part, ending in single baskets. The elongated leaves look grayish from the presence of pubescence. The plant blooms with crimson or lilac-purple flowers from June to September. Seeds ripen from July to October.
Purple-pink baskets of inflorescences have 2 types of flowers: marginal - asexual (no pistils and stamens), funnel-shaped; median - more modest in appearance (tubular with stamens and pistils). The task of the marginal flowers is to attract pollinating insects to the middle flowers.
Where does meadow cornflower grow? This plant is common for the Chernozem zone and the Belgorod region. You can meet him at the forest edges, in the steppes, in glades and meadows, at the roadsides along the roads. They can form even small thickets. This plant is a good honey plant.
Cornflower blue
This flower is from the Asteraceae family. Its homeland is Greece. This wonderful medicinal plant (grows in large quantities in the Belgorod region) is an annual. It has a straight, branched stem up to 60 centimeters high and a well-developed root (rod form). In inflorescences-baskets marginal flowershave a bright blue color, and the central (internal) - blue-violet. Blue cornflower flowers are a valuable medicinal raw material.
Under natural conditions, the plant develops as a spring, winter or wintering plant. The spring form sprouts in spring and infests spring agricultural crops, while the winter or hibernating form sprouts in autumn, forming rosettes of leaves. So, the plant overwinters together with winter crops and next year gives branched, large plants with high fecundity.
Where do blue cornflowers grow?
They can be found in Ukraine, Belarus, throughout the European territory of Russia (with the exception of the Far North). They grow in the fields as weeds of agricultural crops (especially rye).
Cornflower blue in Russia occupies the northern part of the black earth belt and almost the entire forest region. There is no this plant in the arid steppe part. Found in the Caucasus and Crimea. To the east, the growth area does not go further than the Urals due to severe winters. Cornflower grows especially abundantly in Karelia, in the Ivanovo, Leningrad and Moscow regions, in the north of the Voronezh and Kursk regions. It is also common in Asia Minor and even as an invasive plant in North America.
In fields where cornflowers grow together with spring and winter crops, they are weeds. They grow near forest belts and near roadside plantings. They prefer sandy and sandy soils, but also grow on heavy clay soils.
Garden forms
Through workbreeders have a lot of new garden forms with different colors: pink, white, dark blue, purple. There are also cornflowers with an unusual short stem (20-25 cm).
Most popular varieties:
- Cornflower mountain, perennial. It blooms profusely with blue feathery flowers in May and June. Height - up to 70 cm. Used for group plantings. Rejuvenation is done by dividing the bush every 3-4 years.
- Cornflower "Mix of Colors" is the most popular annual. Inflorescences blue, white, pink. Height – 40-80 cm.
High varieties are good for cutting (they stand in water for a long time), low varieties are good for flowerbeds and discounts.
Growing Rules
Where do cornflowers grow, in what conditions? The plant is cold-resistant, photophilous and unpretentious to care. It easily tolerates light penumbra. Soils are different, but not wet.
One of the basic rules for growing cornflowers in open ground is timely fertilizing. They are necessary for good and abundant flowering. To do this, you can prepare the following solution: nitrophoska and urea (one tablespoon each) are diluted in 10 liters of water.
Feeding is applied before flowering in an amount of about 4 liters per 1 square meter. Good for accelerating the flowering of spraying before budding with the Zircon preparation (1 ml of the preparation per 1 liter of water). Consumption - one liter of solution per 30 square meters. m.
Benefits of cornflower flowers
Russia is a country where cornflowers grow almost everywhere. Many collect them to dry and use inmedicinal purposes when needed.
The marginal blue cornflower flowers are a wonderful diuretic. They are effective for nephritis, urethritis, cystitis. They are also used as a mild choleretic agent for diseases of the biliary tract and liver.
In addition, the flowers of the plant have a diaphoretic, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and tonic effect. This is due to the content of a large number of biologically active substances in the plant, especially flavonoids, anthocyanins, glycosides, alkaloids, as well as mineral s alts and vitamins.
