✿ Bachelor Buttons ✿

Scientific Name: Centaurea cyanus

Commonly known as: Corn Flower, Blue Bonnet, Blue Bow

The most common is Bachelor Buttons, referring to a time when they where placed in the button holes of bachelors when they went courting.

In Greek Mythology Centaurea is a creature with the head, arms, and torso of a man, but with horse legs. Chiron, a famous of Centaurs, was a teacher of Achilles and many other famous Greek Heroes, he was wounded by an arrow and was said to use Corn Flower to help himself heal from the wound.

However, I should note that many botanist claim he had confused this flower with a different one, no medicinal benefits are noted of the true Centaurea Cyanus, but it is an interesting tale.

Also, Centaurus or "Kentaurus" is the name of a Thessalonian tribe of expert Horseman, which is not surprising after knowing they are half horse!!

Of all the colors, blue flowers are by far my favorite! In Greek, Cyanus means blue, theirs a few myths surrounding this flower but my favorite is about a young man that loved the flowers so much he spent all his time making wreaths of them, and eventually died on a bed of cornflowers, so the goddess Flora named the flower after him.

Corn flower is not limited to Corn Fields, originating form Europe, where not only corn is "corn", but wheat, barley, and oats are considered "corn" too. It is abundantly found in Southern Europe but is considered endangered in Northern Europe due to human activities, including herbicides.

Bachelor Buttons are definitely a favorite flower of mine, I love the way the petals cover the head. <3 I really hope you enjoy this post, all photos are mine with content from my own research and experiences. <3

More Original Flower Photography:

✿Sunflowers✿
✿Black Eyed Susan✿
✿Echium✿
✿Oxeye Daisy ✿
✿Apple Blossom Yarrow✿