Cornflower Centaurea cyanus

The Cornflower (Centaurea cyanus) – with its vivid, electric-blue flowers – was once a familiar sight across Britain’s arable fields but declined steeply through the twentieth century due to herbicide use and improved seed cleaning. True native populations are now rare and ecologically distinct from the widely planted ornamental strains found in wildflower mixes. Suffolk’s Breckland holds some of the most important remaining native populations in Britain, persisting on disturbed sandy arable land and field margins. Conservation management at key Breckland sites, including careful cultivation and reduced chemical inputs, has helped stabilise populations in the county. Image: © Natural England/Peter Wakely, Flickr.

Find out more: iNaturalist, Plantlife, Online Atlas of the British and Irish Flora