The most common in Russia are meadow cornflower and blue cornflower.

Meadow cornflower grows in the European part of the country and in Altai in meadows, forest glades, among shrubs.

The stem of this perennial rough plant is straight, ribbed, reaches a height of 30-80 cm. Purple-lilac or blue flowers are collected in baskets.

Cornflower blooms in June-July. The fruits are about 3 mm long. Fallen seeds germinate immediately, but the plant develops slowly. It takes several years for it to bloom for the first time.

Bees fly to the purple flowers of meadow cornflower from June to September for honey. The honey is light yellow and has a very pleasant taste. Meadow cornflower is a good fodder plant. When there are many cornflowers in the meadow, hay is considered very nutritious.

The plant is perennial. A rhizome is hidden in the ground, from which new flowers rise and bloom every spring.

Blue cornflower grows almost throughout the country in spring and winter crops, along roads, near housing. Golden rye is earing in the field. The wind came up, bent the ears to the ground, and the heads of cornflowers are immediately visible in the rye. Cornflower is good for both a wreath and a bouquet. But growers consider this plant a weed. It interferes with the plants that are sown in the field - it takes away their nutrition and moisture, and when it grows very strongly, it blocks the light for them.

Cornflower and rye are inseparable. The thing is that the cornflower was originally brought to us along with rye from the western part of Asia adjacent to Russia. That is why cornflower, like rye, was not known to either the Egyptians or the ancient Greeks.

The Russian name of the flower comes from the name of the daring guy Vasil. According to legend, the only son of a poor woman was bewitched by a mermaid: carried away by her in the field, he turned into a blue flower resembling a cold pool.

The flowers can be used to make dyes - blue and blue (for woolen fabrics), as well as to make cornflower blue vinegar.

Legends of cornflowers Cornflower is a constant companion of the rye field, it is there that we most often meet this flower. Cornflower has a very interesting story and legends, poems and songs are composed about him. The poppy adorns the grain fields of the south, and the cornflower is their beauty in the north. Charming blue, like the southern sky, this flower serves as a faithful companion of the rye field and is almost never found anywhere else in the wild; and even if it did, it could serve as a sure indication that where it now grows, there was once a grain field or a road that led to it. Such a constant connection of cornflower with rye is explained by the fact that cornflower is not a native plant, but was brought to us along with rye, the homeland of which is considered adjacent to Southern Russia western part of Asia. As a result, he, like rye, was not known to either the ancient Egyptians or the ancient Greeks, especially in the early periods of the existence of Greece. Its first appearance in Europe, apparently, must be attributed to the time of Pliny the Elder, who lived from 37 to 79 AD. e., when rye in Ancient Rome It was also considered as such a cereal, which can be eaten only in case of extreme hunger. The same Pliny, who spoke of the cornflower as a flower used for weaving wreaths, reports that in the time of Alexander the Great it was not yet known in Greece. According to other sources, the cornflower came to Europe even later, only during the time of the Crusades, when another weed that always accompanies rye, cockle, was brought to us. But against the latter opinion - two ancient Roman legends, clearly showing that the cornflower was well known to the ancient Romans. One of them reports that this flower got its name (Cyanus) "cyanus" on behalf of a beautiful young man who was so fascinated by its beauty that he devoted all his time to weaving garlands and wreaths from it. This young man never left the fields as long as at least one of his favorite cornflowers remained on them, and he always dressed in a dress identical with them. of blue color which fascinated him so much. Flora was his favorite goddess, and of all her gifts, our flower was the gift that attracted the young man the most. He was subsequently found dead in a grain field, surrounded by cornflowers he had been picking. Then the goddess Flora, for his constancy and as a sign of her special disposition towards him, for his love for her, turned his body into a cornflower, and from that time on all cornflowers began to be called "cyanus". Another Roman legend explains the reason for the constant presence of cornflowers among the grain fields. When Ceres, the goddess of harvest and agriculture, once walked through the grain fields and rejoiced at the blessing and gratitude that mankind lavished on her for them, from the thick of the ears suddenly came the plaintive voice of the cornflowers growing there: “O Ceres, why did you order us to grow among your grain fields? cereals that cover the whole country with their luxurious ears? The son of the earth calculates only the amount of profit that your cereals will bring him, and does not honor us even with one favorable look! So give us such a top equipped with an ear, like those of corn ears drooping from the weight, or let us grow somewhere separately, where we could get rid of the contemptuous glances of man. To this, the goddess answered her dear flowers: “No, my dear children, I did not place you among the noisy ears of corn so that you would bring any benefit to mankind; no, your purpose is much higher; than that which you suppose and which man supposes: you must be shepherds among the great people - ears of corn. That is why you should not, like them, make noise and bow your burdened head to the ground, but, on the contrary, you should bloom freely and cheerfully and look, like a pure image of quiet joy and firm faith, up at the eternally blue sky - the place of stay deities. For the same reason, an azure pastoral robe was given to you, the colors of the firmament, to distinguish you as servants of heaven, sent to earth to preach faith to people, and fidelity to the gods. Have only patience, the day of harvest will come when all these ears will fall under the hand of reapers and reapers, and then you, who now seem both abandoned and lonely, will attract everyone's attention to yourself. The reapers will seek and tear you and, having twisted wreaths from you, decorate their heads with them, or, having tied bunches of you, pin them on their chests. These words calmed the offended cornflowers. Filled with gratitude, they fell silent and rejoiced at their eminent position and their high appointment. And so they continue to bloom, like lovely shepherds, in the midst of a surging sea of ​​ears of corn, and tell people about the mercy and goodness of heaven. Once the sky reproached the plants of one grain field with ingratitude. “Everything,” it said, “that inhabits the earth thanks me. Flowers send me their fragrances, forests their mysterious whispers, birds their singing; only you stand as if petrified and stubbornly silent, although it is none other than me who fills your roots with a refreshing rain and makes the golden grains of your golden ears ripen. “We are not at all ungrateful,” the ears objected, “we adorn the earth, your child, with an ever-wavering and swaying sea of ​​\u200b\u200bgreenery, but we cannot express our gratitude to you otherwise: we have no way to ascend to you; give it to us, and we will shower you with caresses and talk about our love for you. “Well,” said the sky, “if you cannot ascend to me, then I will descend to you.” And now the sky ordered the earth to grow wonderful blue flowers, pieces of himself. And since then, the stalks of cereals bend with every breath of the breeze towards these offspring of the blue sky, caressing them and whispering tender words of love to them. The German poet Glaser says: “Blue cornflower! You merrily nod your head Among the ears to the reaper, So that your blue flowers remind him of the sky ... "The scientific name of the cornflower is Centaurea cyanus. The first half of it is derived from the Greek mythological creature - the centaur, depicted as a horse with the body of a bearded man, carrying a lit torch in his hand. One of these centaurs, named Chiron, who was distinguished by his ability to heal with healing herbs, found that the juice of cornflower, especially Centaurea jacea, has a precious property to heal wounds, and he healed the wound inflicted by the poisoned arrow of Hercules. This was the reason for the name of the plant Centaurea. As for the second half of its name - "cyanus", in Latin it simply means "blue", a color that is characteristic of our flower. This scientific name was given to cornflower only in the 18th century, when the famous Swedish botanist K. Linnaeus for the first time put in order the entire botanical nomenclature and gave all plants known at that time, according to their hallmarks or historical data, names. Among the ancients, he was known as common name"Cyanus". Cornflower has long been considered one of the best flowers for weaving wreaths, and therefore the demand for it since the 16th century has been so great that some enterprising gardeners began to plant it in their gardens. Everyone especially liked its pure blue color. This color even prompted the mystics to depict it as a symbol of fidelity and constancy. However, some, due to the tendency of cornflower flowers to sometimes turn red or turn white, considered him, on the contrary, an example of inconstancy, and even in many manuals of that time “On the Meaning of Flowers” ​​it was said about him: “He whose heart is impermanent, who himself does not know, where he stops, and puts up with this kind of hesitation, let him wear cornflowers, since these flowers, being blue, are cheerful and have the ability to turn into White color , do not retain their main color for a long time. Of all the peoples of Europe, the cornflower was the most loved and popular among the Germans. It has become especially dear to them since it became the favorite flower of Emperor Wilhelm I and his mother, Queen Louise. We find the following story about this in the German magazine “Garden Houses”: “As everyone knows, Emperor Wilhelm I always passionately loved flowers, and therefore on his birthday the entire table intended for gifts brought to him was constantly completely lined with wonderful bouquets of luxurious flowers. , which he always accepted with the greatest pleasure. At the same time, however, among the lush flowers of greenhouses and gardens, the modest cornflower, his favorite, reminded him of a sweet, albeit bitter past, should never be forgotten. The preference he showed for this little blue field flower was rooted in his memory of his kind, unforgettable mother, Queen Louise, and two, in themselves very insignificant, cases related to the years of humiliation of Germany. These were difficult years, the times of the Napoleonic wars, when Bonaparte, having become the master of all Europe, cruelly took revenge on the German sovereigns who joined the coalition. Poor Queen Louise was forced to flee from Berlin and take refuge for two years (from 1806 to 1808) in Königsberg, spending summer and winter in a small estate located near the outpost. The seclusion of the dwelling, far from any political unrest, had a beneficial effect on the queen's broken nerves and helped her calm down a little. Here she walked with her children in a huge forest of hundred-year-old pines and tried to inspire them with those good beginnings, which subsequently made them cordial, responsive to the grief of others. And then one morning, when, walking, as always, with her son, who later became Emperor Wilhelm I, and her daughter, Princess Charlotte, who later became the Russian Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (mother of Emperor Alexander II), she already wanted to return to her park, a peasant girl approached her, waiting for her at the gate with a whole basket of cornflowers, and offered to buy them. Wanting to please the children, especially the ten-year-old Princess Charlotte, who looked with the greatest surprise at the lovely blue flowers she had never seen before, the queen generously rewarded the saleswoman and took the cornflowers with her to the park. Sitting down on a bench here, the children began to sort out the flowers, and Princess Charlotte, with the help of her mother, tried to make a wreath out of them. Things quickly improved, and soon the wreath was ready. This success gladdened and agitated the naturally sickly girl so much that almost always her pale cheeks flushed with a bright blush and she perked up all over. When this wreath was put on her head, then all the other children were delighted, seeing how he went to her. In itself, this extremely modest joy that engulfed the children poured, however, deep consolation into the weary soul of Queen Louise, who had not seen even a glimmer of fun for a long time, and she felt in her, as it were, a harbinger of the imminent end of her suffering. Who could, of course, then have thought that this little girl, decorated with a wreath of cornflowers, would become the All-Russian Empress, and her young brother standing next to her, the first emperor of united Germany? But a presentiment creeps into us somehow by itself and in some inexplicable way makes us foresee the future sometimes hidden from us. Here, too, as if overwhelmed by some incomprehensible surge of joy, Queen Louise drew her children to her chest and kissed them tightly, and the cornflower itself has since become both for her and for Princess Charlotte a favorite, a harbinger of a new bright future. ". Another time - this was during the flight of the Prussian royal court to Memel - the royal family had to stop in the middle of the road due to the fact that the wheel of the carriage broke from the accelerated driving. Not knowing what to do, Queen Louise, waiting for the carriage to be repaired, sat down with the children on the edge of the road just near the grain field. The children complained of fatigue and severe hunger. Wanting to somehow cheer them up, the queen began to tear cornflowers and weave a wreath out of them; while large tears rolled down her cheeks. Noticing this, her second son, Wilhelm (later the German emperor), who was distinguished by a very soft heart and strong love to his mother, began to console and hug her. Touched by this love, the queen smiled, cheered up and, laughing, put a wreath of cornflowers on her son's head. Soon help arrived, the crew was fixed, and the royal family safely escaped capture. Both of these cases, no matter how insignificant they were, were, in the midst of difficult trials, like glimpses of distant happiness, and therefore remained forever memorable both for Emperor Wilhelm and for the rest of the royal family. There is still a third story about the connection of the German house with cornflowers. They say that at one court ball given involuntarily by the unfortunate royal couple to Emperor Napoleon and his generals, Queen Louise appeared without any precious jewelry, only with a wreath of cornflowers on her head. And when the French began to make jokes about this, the queen remarked: “Yes, gentlemen, all our precious things are partly looted, partly sold in order to help the needs of our devastated country in any way; and our fields are so trampled by you that even wild flower is now a rarity." The winners could not find what to answer to this, and fell silent. Many years passed, and Queen Louise's premonitions came true. Cornflower did not deceive her. The royal family, which was in exile and oppression, was restored in its rights, and Princess Charlotte, having married Emperor Nicholas I, from a small, insignificant princess became, as we have already said, a powerful All-Russian Empress. And so, when the empress, many years later, once passed through Koenigsberg, the inhabitants of this city, wanting to please her and remind her of the time lived in its vicinity, arranged for her a solemn meeting, in which cornflowers played an outstanding role. At the head of the procession that came to greet her were young girls dressed in white, with wreaths of cornflowers on their heads and with baskets of these flowers in their hands. All the buildings of the city were decorated with wreaths and garlands of cornflowers, all the monuments were entwined with them, and even all the poles of the banners hung on the houses were decorated with them. The most beautiful of the girls brought her a wonderful basket of these flowers, and the rest threw cornflowers on the ground and littered her path with them. The Empress was moved to tears by this cordial reception and expressed her deep gratitude for the fact that the people of Koenigsberg chose a cornflower so dear to her for her meeting. About the happy omen of a cornflower for the royal Prussian house, you can still find the following note in the notebook of the crown prince. Friedrich Wilhelm, which he led during the war with Austria in 1866. In this book, when describing the Battle of Nachod, it says: “Colonel Valker drew my attention to the cornflowers growing around us. I ripped off one of them and took it with me for my wife. This seemed to me a good omen and should be included among those numerous cases in which the meaning of this flower was expressed for us. As a result of all the above, this flower, beloved by Emperor Wilhelm I, became in the struggle that flared up in last years in Bohemia for the predominance of languages, the flower of the German party and is considered a symbol of German views. And therefore, even wearing it in a buttonhole excites hatred in the Czechs, and in the German-Bohemian magazines offensive and even insulting attacks on all those who wear cornflowers are constantly coming across. Many beliefs are associated with cornflowers in Germany. Due to the fact that the stem and calyx of the cornflower are covered with whitish, moldy hairs, in Pomerania, the peasants believed that the bread became moldy if cornflowers were kept in the rooms. On the other hand, here the water decoction of these flowers was considered excellent remedy from inflammation of the eyes. An infusion of these flowers in snow water was considered in former times the main remedy for strengthening the eyes even by the French Medical Academy and was called "casse-lunettes" (breaking glasses), since it was assumed that thanks to it, diseased eyes are so strengthened that they no longer need spectacled. Eye treatment with cornflower blue water was practiced by Russian healers. Previously, it was believed that the cornflower plant, uprooted from the ground on the day of the feast of Corpus Christi, stops nosebleeds if held in the hand until it warms up. In autumn, according to the number of seeds found in the fruit of the cornflower, it was considered possible to conclude the price of bread next year. “How many seeds,” they said, “in the fruit of a cornflower, how many thalers or pennies a measure of rye will bring.” In some areas of Germany, cornflowers were also used to intimidate children so that they would not walk through the grain fields and trample on rye. “If you pick cornflowers,” they were told, “the rye goat will grab you and kill you with its horns.” Instead of a goat, a rye wolf sometimes played the role of a scarecrow. This belief comes from the Middle Ages, and in Frankfurt am Main in 1343, according to Mangardt, there was even a house on Vasilkova Street, which was called the “rye wolf”. As a result, sometimes even the cornflower itself in the villages was called a goat (Ziegenbock) and was considered the personification of some kind of field goblin or demon. This goblin, according to their belief, sits in a cornflower and, when they reap bread, attacks lazy workers and women, striking them with a disease. And therefore, when peasant girls go to reap for the first time, they are warned: “Beware that the rye goat hits you!” And if any of them gets sick from fever or fatigue, then they say: “This rye goat hit her.” Almost the same belief exists in some provinces of France. Only there the place of the goat is taken by the wolf, and therefore they say about lazy workers and working women that a wolf has sat in them. In former times, cornflowers were used to produce a beautiful blue dye, very similar to ultramarine. To do this, they took not reed, circumferential cornflower flowers, but tubular ones located in the middle of the flower, the color of which is darker, and, putting them in a marble mortar, squeezed juice out of them with a pestle and added alum to it, and then everything was poured into a clean vessel and stored in it before use. From reed flowers, they made a paler blue paint. Vinegar was previously made from cornflowers. There is a beautiful Ukrainian legend (can be found in S. Ivchenko's book "Entertaining Botany"). “Evening was approaching. knocking out last strength , wearily dragged a tired horse. And the young stately guy Vasily seemed not to have been working since early morning. He stepped lightly and confidently along the furrow, as if playing with the handrails of the plow. How not to look at such a young man? Leaving all her troubles, the mermaid admired the handsome plowman. From a distance, timidly, hiding behind the reeds, from the very morning she watched him incessantly, and when Vasily, having finished his work, went to the river to wash, she could not stand it and appeared before him in all her glory. They loved each other. In everything they had complete agreement, only they could not agree on where it would be better for them to live together. The mermaid called Vasily to her native water element, and he firmly stood his ground: we will settle near the arable land. They got really tired of arguing. Finally, realizing that the unyielding Vasily would never obey her insistence, the mermaid decided on the last extreme: she turned him into a modest blue flower. More than once, watching how raindrops, gathering in streams, merge into rivers, she hoped that the blue flower - Vasily - would eventually come to her house. However, her expectations were not justified, the cornflower clings tightly to its native arable land with its roots. Cornflower sometimes plays a role in some folk festivals associated with arable farming. So in the Vladimir province, he participated in an interesting ritual "to drive an ear" - this is the name of the procession to the sown fields, when around Trinity Day the rye begins to ear. Young women, girls and boys, having gathered on the outskirts of the village, are taken in pairs with their hands, forming a cross out of them, and stand in two rows, facing each other. Then, along these hands, as if over a bridge, the whole little girl, adorned with cornflowers and ribbons, walks. The couple, on whose hands she passed, hurries to run ahead and stand at the end of the row, and so the procession moves gradually to the very field, to the very place where rye grows. Here the girl is lowered to the ground. She picks a few ears of corn, runs with them to the village and leaves them near the church. The procession was accompanied by singing: "The ear went to the field, To white wheat, Harvest for the summer Rye with oats, With wild grouse, with wheat." Another festival, where the cornflower takes part, is called the “birthday sheaf”. It occurs already by the end of summer, when rye, barley and wheat are ripe. Then the hostess, with bread and salt and a Sretensky candle in her hands, sets off to light the field. And now the first sheaf is compressed and is called the "birthday man". The hostess brings him to the hut and places him near the goddess, where he remains until the threshing. Then they thresh it separately and, having collected grains from it, they carry them to the church for consecration; after which some of them are mixed with the seeds left for sowing the fields for the next year, and some are stored as a healing remedy against various ailments. In some Little Russian districts, this festival took place somewhat differently. At the end of the harvest, the reapers go around the cornfield, collect the ears of corn that were left accidentally not cut off and weave a wreath from them, intertwining it with cornflowers and other wildflowers. This wreath is put on the most beautiful girl and with songs they go to the master's, and in the old days - to the master's yard. A boy walks ahead and carries a birthday sheaf decorated with cornflowers and other flowers. Approaching the gates, they sing: “Open, master, new gates, We carry a wreath of pure gold. Oh, come out, master, even on the porch, Redeem, redeem the golden wreath, Since this wreath is entwined with gold. The owner, or landowner, goes out onto the porch, meets the reapers with bread and salt, treats them to dinner and drinks vodka. A wreath woven from the last ears of corn and cornflowers, and a sheaf brought by a boy, are handed over to the owner with the words "God grant that bread be born that year." The sheaf and wreath should stand in the front corner under the images until August 6 - the Transfiguration of the Savior, on this day they are carried to church and consecrated along with bread baked from new rye, with new honeycombs and new apples and pears. The grains of the consecrated ears are stored until the future sowing. It happens that the first sheaf is placed upright on a cart on top of all other sheaves. The wagon is accompanied by reapers, one of whom carries a wreath of ears, and the other holds cornflowers and other wildflowers in her hands. Cornflower is also associated with the name of the martyr Vassa. According to popular belief, if you sow rye on the day of the memory of this saint, then cornflowers will certainly drown it out. This, apparently, is the same play on words as the advice to collect on May 10th, the day of Simon the Zealot, healing herbs- “potions”, if they want them to have a particularly healing power, look for treasures and sow wheat, if they want it to be born like “gold”. There is a charming fable by Krylov "Cornflower", in which the cornflower played a certain, although perhaps indirect, but still historical role. This fable is dedicated to Empress Maria Feodorovna and begins like this: “In the wilderness, a cornflower that bloomed Suddenly withered, withered to half And, bowing its head on a stalk, Sadly awaited death ...” They say that when in 1823 Krylov had such a strong apoplexy that those who watched his doctors despaired of his recovery, then Empress Maria Feodorovna, who always had a great disposition for the famous fabulist, sent him a bouquet of flowers and moved him to Pavlovsk to improve his health, saying: “Under my supervision, he will soon recover.” Such highest attention touched so deeply (Krylov was already 55 years old at that time) that when he later really recovered completely, the first fable he wrote after a serious illness was the Cornflower fable, in which he, expressing his gratitude, portrayed the empress as the sun, and himself - in the form of a cornflower, a simple wild flower, which is not worthy, as the beetle says in the fable, to be warmed by the sun. Nevertheless, he exclaims with delight in conclusion: “... The sun rose, lit up nature, Rays scattered over the kingdom of the florin And the poor cornflower, withered in the night, revived with a heavenly gaze.” As for the bouquet of the Empress, Krylov carefully dried it, often admired it and bequeathed that when he died, this bouquet would be put in his coffin and buried with him, which, as they say, was exactly done. This bouquet, according to some, was all from wild flowers, and according to others - from greenhouses, but there were several cornflowers in it, which, as if, gave Krylov the idea to write the fable "Cornflower" and portray himself under the name of this modest field flower . Cornflower is brought to us along with rye and has always been a constant companion of the rye field. True, now, fighting weeds, we do not let these flowers into the fields. Meanwhile, science has proven that if one cornflower seed is added to a hundred rye seeds, the rye will grow better. However a large number of cornflower seeds can inhibit cereals. People have long revered the bright blue flower with jagged edges. The image of a cornflower is a favorite decor element of weavers and embroiderers. It is sung in many Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian songs. Cornflower came to us from ancient times. During the excavations of the tomb of Tutankhamun, many items made of precious stones and gold were found. But a small wreath of cornflowers found in the sarcophagus shocked archaeologists. The flowers dried up, but retained their color and shape. Perhaps - these were the favorite flowers of the pharaoh and the grieving wife brought them to her deceased husband. Cornflower is not only a constant companion of rye and wheat, it has also adapted to ripen simultaneously with them, and it is incredibly difficult to weed out its seeds from cereal grains. Every spring, with cereal grains, it again falls into arable land, and by autumn it sways merrily in the golden ocean of bread. In the calendar festivities of Ukrainians, in some rituals, the flowers of mint-leaved basil are widely used, as cornflowers are called there. Basil - cornflower grows wild in subtropical and tropical countries, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Greece, Bulgaria. It is specially bred in vegetable gardens and gardens because, when dried, it emits a strong spicy smell and as a fragrant fumigating agent was used in Ukraine on traditional calendar holidays. In former times, ceremonial wreaths were woven from its stems. Basil also appears in summer Kupala poetry. N. Kostomarov, on the basis of Ukrainian folk literature, interpreted basil as a symbol of “lovely friendliness”. Not far from the entrance to Volgograd, on the site of former fierce battles, an unusual monument was erected (is there one now?): a girl with cornflowers in her hands bent over a soldier's letter-triangle, on which the words of Major D. Petrakov's daughter Mile are engraved: “There is a battle, Enemy shells are exploding all around... And a flower is growing here... Another explosion... The cornflower has been torn off. I picked it up and put it in my tunic pocket. The flower grew, reached for the sun, but it was torn off by an explosive wave, and if I had not picked it up, it would have been trampled. Mila! Papa Dima will fight to the last drop of blood, to the last breath, so that the Nazis do not treat you like this flower. Cornflowers, hairs, cornflowers look at us with blue eyes either from ears of rye or wheat, or splashing like lakes on the silk carpets of lawns, or pleasing the eyes in the flower beds, emphasizing the multi-colored plants on the lawns. However, the blue-eyed handsome man does not always have blue flowers. In the world flora, there are about seven hundred species of cornflowers, among which there are cornflowers with pink, purple, purple, white and even yellow flowers. But whatever the color and smell of cornflowers, they are always attractive and loved. And that is why they are a popular element of ornament in folk embroideries, where craftswomen depict them together with ears of rye. The villagers who left the village for one reason or another find it very difficult to endure separation from nature. This melancholy-longing was perfectly expressed in the poem "Slutsk weavers" by the Belarusian poet Maxim Bogdanovich: ... And thoughts rush to the expanse "Guda, where shoots turn green, Where cornflowers bloom, Where the waters sparkle with silver Between the mountains of the broken river, Where the edge of the gray forest is visible ... And now, having forgotten, the hand weaves Instead of the Persian pattern The pattern of the native cornflower. Many artists have dedicated paintings to cornflowers. Suffice it to recall Igor Grabar's painting "Cornflowers", where, against the backdrop of a hot afternoon, two girlfriends recall their youth in front of a huge armful of cornflowers. cornflower has its own secrets and one of them is the spread of its seeds.They crawl.At the top of a smooth, very shiny cornflower achene, resembling a rye grain in shape, there is a small tuft of white hairs.An ignorant person may think that the tuft serves as a parachute for the flight of the seed like a dandelion. But it's not. The crest of a cornflower is the main organ for the movement of achenes, with its help they "crawl". expands, and when dried, lengthens. The hairs of the tuft have notches directed in one direction, with which they rest against the unevenness of the soil. With the reduction or lengthening of cornflowers, the achene moves.

Oh what beautiful flower grew up in the forest on a sunny meadow surrounded by bluebells, daisies, forget-me-nots and night violets! He looked like a magical star. His cheerful blue eyes smiled at everyone-everything-everyone! The whole day the Flower walked around the clearing and made friends with literally all the flowers. Curious, he learned a lot of interesting things from new friends. The flowers told him that the Sun often looked into the clearing. During the day it walks in the sky, and in the evening it hides behind the trees. And friends also told the Flower where the Veterok flies to the clearing, and where the bees live. By nightfall, the young blue-eyed Flower was terribly tired and quickly fell asleep.
The next morning he woke up before everyone else and was the first to greet the striped bee. She flew into the clearing and buzzed loudly with her wings, because she wanted to wake up the familiar fragrant flowers. Having asked them for delicious nectar, the Bee deftly filled her proboscis with it and was about to fly back to her hive home.
But then a curious Flower suddenly asked her:
“Perhaps you know, dear Bee, who lives behind the forest, on that yellow field over there?”
“Wheat Spikelets,” the Bee immediately answered.
“Please introduce me to them,” asked the inquisitive Flower.
"Good," Bee buzzed. - Follow me.
And she flew forward, and the Flower ran after her. Because he couldn't fly.
And there, on the yellow field, everything was different, because the Wheat Spikelets do not look like flowers. They looked down at the blue-eyed Flower. Their stalks were much taller than the Flower.
- How big and mustachioed you are! - the little blue Flower was surprised. - And grains ripen in your heads. How interesting!
– Yes, we are! murmured the Wheat Spikes. “But in the fall, people will gather all our grains, and they will turn into flour. And baked from flour delicious pies and delicious buns!
- Marvelous! Flower smiled. “I wonder how people will do all this. May I visit you again? - he asked.
- Come! We will be glad! replied the Wheat Spikes.
And the young inquisitive Flower ran home.

The next morning, a large brown-eyed Bumblebee flew up to him in a sunny clearing. He, like the Bee, collected odorous nectar. The Blue-Eyed Flower found out that the Bumblebee lives in a small hole near the rye field with his family, and asked to be taken to this rye field.
- It's far away, over that hillock. You will get tired of running,” Bumblebee warned him.
But curious blue flower was not afraid of anything. He so wanted to know what it was, a rye field, that he boldly set off. And not in vain! This field looked like wheat. Only Rye ears turned out to be almost the same height as him. And Chamomile grew on the field! She was such a beauty in an openwork white dress and a yellow Panama hat! Chamomile liked the blue-eyed Flower, and she cheerfully chatted with him about all sorts of things. And the Rye Spikelets looked at the flowers and smiled. They had long wanted to introduce their lodger to someone good and cheerful.
- Do you also bake delicious pies and buns from your grains? asked the Flower.
“But first, all the grains must be ground into flour,” explained the Rye Spikelets.
“Yes, yes, I know that,” Flower shook his head.
- And then black bread is baked from flour. It is very nutritious and gives a lot of strength, - Rye Spikelets importantly shook their long antennae.
“What good fellows you are,” the blue-eyed Flower praised Spikelets.
He liked this rye field so much that he decided to live there for a while next to the lovely Chamomile. But after two days, Flower wanted to go somewhere else to meet someone else. The stray breeze led him beyond the distant forest to the oat field. There the blue-eyed Flower saw many, many panicles of Oat Bells. They fluttered in the wind and lowered their heads modestly.
- From our grains you can cook delicious porridge, they told the inquisitive Flower.

For many years, the blue-eyed Flower ran through the fields and gradually explored the entire native land. He became a true traveler. People noticed him by his fluffy blue head and cheerful radiant smile.
“My son Vasilka has the same blue eyes as this flower,” one man said to another, working in the field.
Since then, people call the blue-eyed Flower so gently Cornflower. It can be seen in the fields between ears of wheat, rye, oats and rapeseed, in meadows and forest clearings. Everyone loves cornflower - people and plants. He is accommodating, does not interfere with anyone, but only decorates the golden fields with blue stars.

Once Alyonka was walking out of the forest with a full basket of mushrooms. Passing through the field, the girl saw Vasilek. She approached him, but did not pluck, but only stroked and kissed. And then she composed a song about her favorite flower.
Here listen:

And we have a flower growing
Blue-eyed cornflower.
Decorate our summer
He has his wonderful color.

This star is shining
Here and there, here and there.
Light, happiness adds
He is my hometown.

P.s. Dear Guys! Read my fairy tales and stories at http://domarenok-t.narod.ru
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cornflower

Russian name - Cornflower. Latin name - Centaurea Family - Compositae or Asteraceae (Composittae or Asteraceae). Motherland - distributed throughout Europe.

History reference

At Slavic peoples there was a tradition during the holiday dedicated to the ripening of rye, barley and wheat, to decorate the first sheaf with cornflowers. He was called a birthday man and brought home with songs.
The Germans enjoyed the greatest love of all European peoples. This plant gained particular popularity in Germany after it became the favorite flower of Emperor Wilhelm I and his mother, Queen Louise. In this country, there are many beliefs and customs associated with cornflower. The stalk and calyx of the cornflower are covered with whitish, mold-like hairs, so the following belief was widespread among the villagers: in a house where cornflowers stand, bread quickly molds. Previously, in many German villages, the cornflower was called ziegenbock - “goat” and was considered the personification of the field goblin, which, according to legend, lives in cornflower flowers and attacks careless reapers. Therefore, when young peasant women went to the field for the first time, their fathers and mothers warned: "Beware of the rye goat!" In some European countries, a wolf acted as a field demon living in cornflowers instead of a goat.

The Latin name of this plant is associated with the centaur Chiron - the ancient Greek mythological hero - half-horse and half-man. He had knowledge about healing properties many plants and with the help of the cornflower he was able to recover from the wound inflicted on him by the poisoned arrow of Hercules. This was the reason to call the plant centaurea, which literally means "centaur".

The origin of the Russian name of this plant explains the ancient popular belief. A long time ago, a beautiful mermaid fell in love with a handsome young plowman Vasily. The young man reciprocated her, but the lovers could not agree where they should live - on land or in water. The mermaid did not want to part with Vasily, so she turned him into a wild flower, which in its color resembled the cool blue of water. Since then, according to legend, every summer, when blue cornflowers bloom, mermaids weave wreaths from them and decorate their heads with them.

Biological signs

There are more than 500 types of cornflowers, which are annual and perennials. The stem is erect, 30-70 cm high. The alternate leaves may be entire or pinnately dissected. Bright blue flowers, collected in single basket inflorescences, are located at the ends of the stems. The fruit is a seed. Many types of cornflowers are excellent honey plants.

To date, breeders have bred many varieties of this plant, including those with white, pink and red flowers. Among flower growers, hybrid forms of Cornflower mountain (C.montana) are especially popular.

Usage

Cornflower is a medicinal plant. Medications, made on its basis, are used as a diuretic, diaphoretic, choleretic and wound healing agent. A decoction of cornflower flowers is considered an excellent remedy for eye inflammation.

. Cornflower blue Centaurea cyanis L.
The generic name comes from the Greek "kentaureion", which is associated with the name of the centaur Chiron, the Greek "kyanos" - blue. There is such a legend about the origin of the cornflower.
beautiful girl fell in love with the king of snakes, and she agreed to marry him. Relatives did not want to give her away for a snake, but they had to do it. He already took his young wife to the bottom of the lake, where she lived in a beautiful crystal palace and gave birth to two children: a son, Vasilko, and a daughter, Gorpina. A few years later, the wife asked her husband to let her go to see her family. He agreed, only asked her and the children not to tell anything about him or about how they would get to their parents' house. He turned around wooden bridge, and his wife and children in a golden carriage rode it out of the lake and arrived home. Her father asked his daughter to lie down to rest, and he took his grandchildren into the garden and began to ask them about their father. Vasilek remembered his father's order and remained silent, while Gorpina blabbed that her father, turning into a bridge, was still standing over the lake and waiting for them to go back. Then the grandfather took an ax, went to the lake, cut the bridge into pieces, and he returned back without saying anything to his daughter or grandchildren. When they got into the carriage and arrived at the shore of the lake, they saw that there was no bridge, and the water was all red with blood. Then the woman realized that her father had killed her husband, and asked the children which of them had told their grandfather about their father. When she learned that it was Gorpina who had killed her father, she ordered her to become a nettle and cause people the same pain that she had caused her mother. And she turned her son into a cornflower, saying that people would take him for bouquets and consecrate him in the church. In a legend created under the influence of Greek legends about finding the cross of the Lord, it is said that cornflowers grew on the spot where the cross was buried, on which Christ was crucified. Helena, the mother of the Roman emperor Constantine, who proclaimed Christianity the state religion, went to look for where the persecutors of Christ had hidden His cross. The cross was buried in the ground, and so that no one would find it, they piled a bunch of garbage on this place and planted dope and henbane. God, in order to prevent the desecration of the holy place, gave a certain man named Vasily the seeds of flowers and ordered them to be sown in the place where poisonous herbs were planted. When Empress Elena, after a long search, prayed to God, He told her to look for a place where blue fragrant flowers grow. Elena went to Calvary, found there among the heaps of garbage a place where cornflowers bloomed, and dug out the cross of the Lord.
The appearance of cornflowers is narrated by a later Russian legend associated with the name of the famous Moscow holy fool Basil the Blessed (under whose name the Church of the Intercession on Red Square in Moscow is known). They say that when St. Basil the Blessed died, his body was found among fragrant blue flowers. At first they thought that this smell was emitted by the body of the saint, but then they were convinced that the grass in which it lay was fragrant. Therefore, the flowers, nicknamed cornflowers, smell like incense.
There is another Russian legend about the origin of the cornflower.
A long time ago, a beautiful mermaid fell in love with a handsome young plowman Vasily. The young man reciprocated her, but the lovers could not agree where they should live - on land or in water. The mermaid did not want to part with Vasily, so she turned him into a wild flower, which in its color resembled the cool blue of water. Since then, according to legend, every summer, when blue cornflowers bloom, mermaids weave wreaths from them and decorate their heads with them.
The myths of Ancient Greece also told about Hekate - the progenitor of all poisoners, about the wise centaur Girone who knew healing powers all herbs and communicated this knowledge to Apollo. According to the myth, Apollo asked Chiron to raise his son Asclepius, the patron saint of physicians and the art of medicine. On the mountain Pelion Chiron taught Asclepius to recognize medicinal plants, and soon a capable student surpassed his teacher. In memory of the first, albeit mythological, herbalist, the centaur Chiron, two genera of plants belonging to different botanical families are called "centaurs". This is a cornflower - Centaurea and a centaury - Centaurium, and the family of the gove in Latin is named after Asclepius - Asclepiadaceae.