Agrostemma githago, Corncockle

Common Name: Corncockle

Agrostemma githago, more commonly known as Corncockle, is a medium to tall (up to 1m +) annual with long, narrow and softly hairy leaves. The large (up to 3.5cm across) pinky purple flowers are borne singly on a long stem, each petal bearing 2 or 3 discontinuous black lines and are surrounded by long pointed sepals. The flowers are followed by a straw coloured flask like seed head containing large (3.5mm) black, rough textured seed.

Corncockle was introduced into Britain as a contaminant of grain at least as far back as the Iron Age. It is a plant that can tolerate a range of soil types and was a weed of cereal and other arable crops. In Britain its stronghold appeared to be within rye on the light, sandy soils of the south and east of the country.

Although never common, it suffered a dramatic decline at the beginning of the twentieth century with the development of improved seed cleaning techniques. It is now virtually extinct in the wild.

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