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Agrostemma githago
Also called Common corncockle, Purple Cockle, Cockle, Corn Cockle, Corn Campion, Corn Pink
Corncockle is a showy annual wildflower with deep pink to purple flowers, once a common weed of European wheat fields. Grow it from seed in full sun in light, well-drained soil, and keep it away from people and animals because all parts are poisonous.
Agrostemma githago, the common corn-cockle (also written "corncockle"), is a herbaceous annual flowering plant a member of Caryophyllaceae, also called the pink family or the carnation family of plants. The name of this genus is derived from Greek: agros (ἀγρός) “field” and stemma (στέμμα) “garland, crown."
All parts of the plant are poisonous and contain githagin (ribosome-inactivating proteins) and saponins. It has been used in folk medicine despite the risk of fatal poisoning.
In the 19th century, it was reported as a very common weed of European wheat fields and its seeds were inadvertently included in harvested wheat seed and then resown the following season. It is very likely that until the 20th century, most wheat contained some corn cockle seed. It is susceptible to downy mildew caused by the oomycete species Peronospora agrostemmatis.
Recent research highlights the various biological activities of common corncockle, including its cytotoxic effects on cancer cells, protective properties against oxidative stress, inhibition of Leishmania major culture growth, suppression of protein synthesis, and its antiviral, anti-angiogenic, and cholesterol-lowering activities.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Agrostemma githago by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
