Cornflowers
The Vase of Cornflowers, 1959
Salvador Dali
Oil
Personal Collection
In a personal collection, Salvador Dali’s oil painting ‘The Vase of Cornflowers’ is of two blue flowers which originate from The United Kingdom, specifically from the British Isles as an archaeophyte since the Iron Age.
The cornflower, Centaurea cyanus, or bachelor's button, is an annual flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. This blue flowering, grey-green branched stems had been considered as a weed in cornfields, which leads to its name.
Brought to America in the seventeenth century as ornamental by immigrants from Europe. Cornflowers had become a popular cultivated weed plant found in every state except Alaska. It is commonly found in Canada and parts of Australia. To some, the cornflower can be invasive, it is now an endangered plant in its native habitat mostly from the over-use of herbicides.
Today, you can find many different colors of the cornflower. It also has many uses such as an ingredient in tea and is famous in the Lady Grey blend of Twinings. It has magical uses for protection of property, to repel evil influences, and discourage evil visitors. Healing properties used for relation and sensory contact. Lastly, the color blue has been replicated as a crayon color for Crayola.
Cornflowers have been common plants for its longevity after picking, lasting about two weeks. People also dry cornflowers and add them to bouquets. As a folklore goes, ‘cornflowers were worn by young men in love; if the flower faded too quickly, it was taken as a sign that the man's love was unrequited."
So next time you are diving in the middle of America look for these blue flowers that outline the corn fields.