[The Pink Family East of the Cascade Mountains of Oregon and Washington]

Common Corncockle, Corn Campion

Agrostemma githago

Synonym: Lychnis githago

Common Corncockle, Corn Campion: Agrostemma githago (Synonym: Lychnis githago)

The photo above shows the flowers of common cockle as seen on the Major Creek Plateau in the Columbia River Gorge in Washington..............June 1990.

Characteristics:

Corncockle may also be shown as corn cockle. It is an introduced annual with erect stems from 40-120 cm high from a strong taproot. The stems are simple to branched and covered with fine, white hairs. The pubescent, linear-lanceolate leaves are 5-12 cm long and 3-7 mm wide.

The few flowers are on long pedicels from 5-15 cm long. The calyx lobe is 12-16 mm long and becomes strongly 10-ribbed in fruit. The calyx lobes, which are 20-40 mm long, are linear, leafy and longer both than the calyx tube as well as the petals. The corolla is 2-3 cm across. The petals are purple-red and up to 30 mm long. The petals lack appendages near the base of the inner petal surface.


Habitat:

Corncockle is a weedy species of disturbed ground, including grainfields, wastelands and roadsides.


Range:

Introduced from Europe, corncockle is found over much of North America. It is fairly well established in Washington and Oregon but less so into Idaho and Montana.

 


Paul Slichter