Drozd Natalya, Vasilki
CORNFLOWER(voloshka, Ukrainian) (Centaurea cyanus), presumably got its name in honor of the mythical centaur Chiron, who had the gift of healing people with medicinal plants. According to another version, this is Old Russian re-arrangement of Greek basilicon"royal" (flower, plant), derived from basileus"tsar".
A symbol of purity, friendliness and courtesy, modesty. Required element traditional Ukrainian maiden wreath.
Well, folk legends explain the origin of its name in their own way. There lived in the same village a widow with her only son Vasil. He was a handsome and hard-working guy. From morning to night he worked in his field, and then went to the river to wash and rest. A young mermaid saw him and fell in love. She began to call Vasil to her - look how beautiful I am, how cool and beautiful it is under my water. But Vasil flatly refused to leave his land, his field. He didn't even want to look at her. The mermaid got angry - if that’s the case, then don’t let anyone get you, but forever become a flower in your field. A flower swayed among the rye. It was blue, like the boy’s eyes, and people named that flower cornflower in honor of him.
There are legends about the origin of cornflowers in Christian literature. Such interesting legends were recorded in the Kharkov region. When they took down the body of Christ from the cross, they buried it in the garden, in a cave. And they ordered to bury the cross of the Lord in the mountain, level the place above it, and sow henbane seeds there. But God, seeing this malice, gave Vasily (who is unknown) the seeds of a fragrant potion and ordered him to sow it in the place where henbane was sown.
When Queen Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine the Great, arrived in Jerusalem in 326 and wanted to find the Cross of the Lord, she could not find it for a long time and began to ask God to help her. Someone came to her and said: “Look for the fragrant potion of Vasily: where you find it, there you will find the cross.” They went to Mount Golgotha and found him in a place overgrown with cornflowers. Since then the cross has been decorated with cornflowers.
Another legend tells that during the reign of Ivan the Terrible, Vasily the Blessed, the holy fool, lived in Moscow. He walked around Moscow both in winter and summer barefoot, wearing only a shirt, with chains on his shoulders. He visited the royal and boyar chambers, and peasant huts. Spent the night most often in cemeteries he died there. They found him in the grass, there was such a fragrance around him! At first they thought that the body of the Blessed One was fragrant, but it turned out that the grass in which he lay was fragrant. And they called that grass Basil's grass - cornflowers.
In Ukraine, these flowers have long been loved and revered. In addition to the traditional, a wreath of devotion was woven from cornflowers with lovage leaves and given to the Cossack during separation, before long campaigns, so that he knew that they were waiting for him and loved, they believed that he would return from a foreign land to his native land safe and sound.
They decorated crosses in churches and placed them behind icons. On the Savior, cornflowers were blessed in the church along with ears of corn and bread baked from the new harvest. The cornflower motif was used in wedding towels, especially in the hospitable ones with which the newlyweds were greeted, in Ukrainian women's and men's embroidered shirts, usually with poppies and daisies. On Trinity Sunday it was the custom to decorate with wreaths as amulets against evil forces and to increase the offspring and well-being of livestock: sheep, cows, horses.
Cornflowers were used to make coffin lining, as well as wreaths for dead girls.
A large rye field is golden in the sun. And between the spikelets filling with ripeness, the cornflowers turn blue.
Cornflowers look into the sky
Blue eyes.
The spikelets are golden,
The rye comes in waves.
The fields spread out
Without end and edge.
The earth feeds us with bread -
Dear mother!
Cornflowers are beautiful bright blue flowers. “They absorbed the color of the clear sky and the blue of the river” (T. Gorova). Cornflowers decorate bouquets wildflowers, weave them into wreaths.
In grain fields - wheat and rye - cornflower is considered a weed. But here’s an interesting fact that scientists have established: if you add one cornflower seed to a hundred rye seeds, the rye improves! When there are a lot of cornflowers, the grains grow worse, and they try to get rid of the flowers.
Let's remember what cornflower looks like.
It has a straight, slightly hairy stem, dark green leaves decorated with sharp teeth, and a rather large bright blue flower.
If you look closely, you will notice that the cornflower flower consists of many small inflorescences collected in a basket. In every small flower a drop of honey is hiding. With its bright blue color, clearly visible among the golden ears of rye and wheat, and pleasant aroma cornflower attracts insects that fly to the flowers for fragrant nectar and sweet pollen. Flying from cornflower to cornflower, bees and bumblebees pollinate flowers.
Greenish-yellow cornflower honey has a pleasant almond4 smell and a slightly bitter taste.
Cornflowers bloom all summer, from June to September. After flowering, cornflowers lose their bright blue color, turning first pink and then completely white. Insects are in no hurry to visit the fading cornflowers; they know that there is no more honey in them.
Soon, seeds form in place of the flower. In their shape, they resemble rye grains, but there is one difference: cornflower seeds are decorated with a small tuft of thin white hairs. With the help of the tuft, the seeds “move” across the field. And this is how it happens: when cornflowers get wet from rain, they become shorter, and when they dry out, they lengthen and cling to the soil with their sharp notches. So the seeds “crawl” further and further from the place where they fell to the ground.
Cornflower flowers help people cure illnesses. They are collected, dried, and decoctions and infusions are prepared from them.
“In Ancient Greece, cornflower was called “centaure” - by name mythical creature A centaur who treated wounds received in battle with cornflower juice. In some countries, cornflowers are specially bred in gardens and vegetable gardens to then be dried. In this form, a captivating and healing spicy smell emanates from the flower. And in Ukraine, for example, they use dried flowers as an incense smudging agent.”
(G. Gorova)
A lot of folk legends, fairy tales and legends are associated with cornflowers. There is such a legend.
Heaven and cornfield
The cornfield spreads out
Without end and edge.
It sways beautifully
Golden Niva.
Will give us a lot of bread
Golden Niva,
But the sky is blue
Niva reproaches:
“Golden field!
Remember: on a hot day
He gave me a drink generously
I'll rain on you.
The wind praises me
Cheerful rustling
Adults and children
They glorify with a kind word.
The grass praises me
rivers and forests.
Only you don’t praise
Niva, Heaven!
"What can I do to glorify you?
Maybe a yellow ear?
I'm a simple Niva
I have nothing to be proud of
There are no beautiful flowers
Only rye and wheat!”
The sky heard
Meek words
And fell from heaven
The field is blue.
Burned up hot
Blue flowers -
Shined brightly
There are cornflowers in the field!
Questions for consolidation
What does cornflower look like?
Where do cornflowers most often grow?
What insects pollinate cornflower flowers?
How are cornflower seeds spread?
How are cornflowers useful to people?
What did you like (remember) about the legend “Niva and Heaven”?
The ancient Egyptians and ancient Greeks had no idea what kind of flower the cornflower was. The first mention of this flower dates back to the times of Pliny the Elder. This cornflower flower accompanied people in the fields where grain crops were sown, they decorated their homes during the holidays, and various legends were dedicated to it. This blue flower was one of the most beloved in many countries.
Description of the cornflower flower
The genus of the cornflower flower is very extensive. Let us now take a look at a small but voluminous description of the cornflower flower. It has more than 800 species worldwide. It can be found in all corners of the globe, but is most common on the Mediterranean coast.
Types of flower
Some types of cornflowers like to grow only in certain areas. In Turkey you can find 180 species of this flowering plant, 109 of which are endemic, that is, those that grow locally. In the Union of Independent States, blue cornflower is considered the most popular, although in this territory there are also meadow cornflower, Pannonian cornflower, scabious cornflower, gray cornflower, as well as other types of flowers.
Legends about cornflower
The generic name of this flower is Centaurea. Translated, this means “centaur.” There is a legend that explains the appearance of this name. One day, Hercules accidentally hit the old centaur Chiron with an arrow. And he knew about healing and got rid of the wound he received thanks to cornflower juice.
The second legend about the cornflower tells the story due to which the cornflower began to be called “blue”. In ancient times, there lived a beautiful young man who loved this flower very much. He constantly wore wreaths and garlands made of cornflower. One day he was found dead surrounded by these blue flowers. The goddess Flora turned the guy’s body into a cornflower, after which this flower began to be called “blue cornflower.”
According to the second legend, cornflower received this color from the sky. One day the sky was angry with the grain field because she did not show gratitude to him. The field replied that the sky was too high, and under no circumstances could it reach the sky to thank for all the good things. Then the sky gave the order to the earth so that flowers would grow in the field along with the ears of corn. of blue color, its color reminiscent of the blue of the sky.
The Slavs have their own explanation of the word “cornflower”. According to legend, many years ago there lived a mermaid who loved the grain farmer Vasily. One day after work he was washing his face river water, and at that moment the mermaid appeared to him. He fell in love with her too, everything was fine with them, but they could not come to an agreement on where they should live. The mermaid did not want to live on earth, and Vasily did not want to go to the water element. The mermaid despaired and turned her lover into a flower, which was supposed to grow in the middle of a grain field and have a blue color, reminding her of the water surface. This is just one description of the cornflower flower. We read the following.
The Germans recognized this flower during the time of William I and Queen Louise, his mother. Fighting for the well-being of their family, Louise, her daughter and William hid from Napoleonic revenge. One day a local girl approached them with a basket of blue flowers and offered to buy them. The queen bought flowers and made a wreath for her daughter, which she liked and brought to good location spirit of the whole family. This fact seemed to mean that soon everything would work out and get better.
In Germany, the cornflower flower is a symbol of German views on social life, in Belgium symbolizes freedom, and in France it is a symbol of anti-Semitism. The Germans do not keep this flower in the house because it is believed that it will cause the bread to start molding. In Ukraine, ending from their gardens, people celebrate the festival of harvesting. They weave wreaths from ears of grain and petals and put them on the most beautiful girls. So you found out what cornflower is.
Several centuries ago, the French believed that if you infused cornflower flowers with melt water, you could get the best medicine for your eyesight.
The fact that people love to weave wreaths from these flowers has led to the fact that florists specially grow cornflowers and sell them on the eve of various holidays. In such short description you learned today on our website, we hope you enjoyed it. Good luck to you!
You've probably seen rye and wheat growing in a field. Among the endless golden-yellow field, you will definitely come across specks of bluish-blue color, similar to pieces of the sky. These are cornflower flowers.
According to legend, one young man, named Vasil, hid in a rye field, watching the round dance of mermaids. The mermaids saw him, got angry and ordered him to live in this field forever. Since then, cornflowers have become permanent residents of fields and meadows.
Cornflower is a plant from the Asteraceae family. Its flower is a basket consisting of many small flowers of piercing blue or blue color. This color is so unique that it even received a separate name - “cornflower blue” color.
Lovers really like the beautiful color of cornflowers country life, and they are happy to collect these flowers from the surrounding meadows and fields, making them beautiful bouquets. And they can do this for a very long time, because cornflowers bloom all summer, starting in June.
But rural residents have an ambiguous attitude towards cornflowers. On the one hand, cornflowers love to settle in fields with grain crops, where the soil is soft and fertilized. Cornflowers sometimes grow so much that they begin to take away nutrition from cultivated plants and block the light from them. For this reason, cornflower in the villages is considered a weed, a harmful plant.
On the other hand, cornflowers grow well in meadows from which the grass is cut in August, and the hay obtained from this grass is used to feed animals. Hay containing cornflowers is very nutritious and is liked by cows.
Cornflowers delight bees, because cornflower is a honey plant. The nectar of this flower produces delicious cornflower honey, which has a characteristic light yellow color.
Useful properties of cornflower
Cornflower flowers serve as the basis for the production of various medicinal preparations: diaphoretic, antipyretic, antimicrobial, choleretic. Even ancient healers used cornflower juice to heal wounds. Cornflower-based medications also help improve digestion and increase appetite.
One of the Roman legends says that the cornflower got its name from the beautiful young man Cianus, who was so captivated by the beauty of blue wildflowers that he himself dressed in all blue. He never left the fields while cornflowers grew on them, and endlessly weaved wreaths and garlands from them. Some time later he was found dead in a grain field among his favorite flowers. The goddess Flora, whom the young man loved more than others, for his constancy and love for her, as a sign of special favor, turned the young man’s body into his favorite flower, which has since received the name Cyanus.
Generic Latin name The ancient Greek scientists Hippocrates, Theophrastus and Dioscorides associated Centaurea with the mythical centaur Chiron.
Chiron was greatly revered for his wisdom and kindness; he was the teacher of such heroes as Theseus, Jason, Achilles, and also a skilled physician who taught Asclepius (Aesculapius) himself how to heal.
The centaur found that cornflower juice has precious properties to heal wounds, and with it he healed his wound, accidentally inflicted by the poisoned arrow of Hercules.
It was from then on that the plant allegedly received the name Centaura, i.e. Centaur flower. The centaur, as the legend says, subsequently sacrificed himself and, renouncing immortality, went instead of Prometheus to the kingdom of the dead. And only sky-blue flowers remind him of him every summer.
They say that in ancient times a mermaid fell in love with a young plowman Vasily, the only son of her mother. From afar, under the cover of the reeds, from early morning the mermaid incessantly watched the handsome young man, and when one day, having finished work, Vasily went to the river to wash, she could not stand it and appeared before him in all her beauty. They fell in love with each other. And the mermaid began to call the young man to her native element, and Vasily persuaded her to stay on earth. They agreed on everything, but they couldn’t agree on where they should live together. And when the mermaid realized that the plowman would not leave his native land, in despair she turned him into modest flower, growing in the fields, but with a color reminiscent of her blue element. People, sympathizing with the good young man and his old mother, named the flower in memory of him after the young man’s name - as his mother called him - Cornflower. In botany it was called “blue cornflower”. However, cornflower has a Latin species name, Cyanus, which ancient Greece associated with the name of the nymph Kiane, the daughter of the river god meander, who turned into a stream with dark blue water, which became a tributary of the Anapis River, which flowed near Syracuse. A type of flower that resembled the color of this stream was named Cyanus.