Bachelor's Button

Centaurea cyanus

Bachelor's Button image

Bachelor's button (nickname "cornflower") is non-native plant, considered invasive, reaching a height of of 2 to 3 feet. This plant blooms from June to September and is attractive to bees, butterflies and/or birds. Cornflower was introduced from Europe as an ornamental, escaped from cultivation and now occurs as an occasional weed in fields of fall-sown crops, in waste places and along roadsides and railway tracks. The nickname "cornflower" comes from the fact that the plant grows wild in the grain fields of southern Europe. When Napoleon forced Queen Louise of Prussia from Berlin, she hid her children in a cornfield and kept them entertained and quiet by weaving wreaths of cornflowers. One of her children, Wilheim, later became the emperor of Germany. Remembering his mother's bravery, he made the cornflower a national emblem of unity.