Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Campanulids: Asterales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Cyanus segetum
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Check out EDDMapS.org to see where this has been reported.
Read more about Cornflower at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Centaurea cyanus
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Cyanus segetum
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21 (2006)
Centaurea cyanus
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Centaurea cyanus
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-24-002:
Centaurea cyanus FAMILY Asteraceae__
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Centaurea cyanus
COMMON NAME:
Bachelor's Buttons, Cornflower
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_cecy2_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm150327_926
March Greenville County SC
Leaves linear, mostly entire, 2-5" long, white-hairy when young, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm150327_926b
March Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm150327_932
March Greenville County SC
)
Craig Myers cam_blueflowerkinards
April Laurens County SC
Field
)
Gill Newberry gn04_c_c_side_view
April
The involucral bracts have a narrow, dark, fringed margin, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
COMPARE
involucral bracts of Centaurea
)
Gill Newberry gn04_c_cyanus_habitat
April
)
Gill Newberry gn04_c_flower_white
April
Outer florets have large bilaterally symmetric corollas simulating ray flwrs, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
Gill Newberry gn04_c_side_vies
April
)
Gill Newberry gn04_centauea_cropped
April
Flowers discoid, perfect, or the outer simulating ligules and sterile, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm0405za_01
May Greenville County SC
Field
Marginal florets enlarged, bell-shaped, with sharply pointed segments, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
Keith Bradley kab_centaurea_cyanus_0918
May Polk County NC
)
Joseph M. DiTomaso, University of California - Davis, Bugwood.org bug_5374345
Month Unknown
)
Rebekah D. Wallace, University of Georgia, Bugwood.org bug_5395004
Month Unknown
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Cyanus segetum
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Centaurea cyanus
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Cyanus segetum
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21
Centaurea cyanus
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Centaurea cyanus
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-24-002:
Centaurea cyanus
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Centaurea cyanus
298
Forb
Winter annual
Habitat: Roadsides, disturbed areas, per Weakley's Flora
Non-native: Mediterranean Europe
Common (uncommon in GA Mountains)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
This plant may be causing problems in natural areas outside its native range, according to authorities such as:
- Brooklyn Botanic Garden
- Georgia Exotic Pest Plant Council, 2006
- Tennessee Exotic Pest Plant Council, 2009
LEAVES:
Simple: Unlobed and/or dissected
Basal & alternate
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer/Fall
Disc: Blue
(sometimes pink, purple or white)
Rays: Absent
Inferior ovary
Bisexual, fertile (peripheral florets sterile)
FRUIT:
Spring/Summer/Fall
Bluish-gray
Achene
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p375
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p441
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p252
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p065
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p282
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p330
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p186
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".