Birth flower for May 9
Cornflower
Meaning: Delicacy and hope in love
The genus name comes from the centaurs of Greek myth; the wise centaur Chiron was said to heal wounds with it. It was once a common weed in European grain fields, hence cornflower, since corn meant grain. Cornflowers were woven into the floral collars found in Tutankhamun's tomb, and today it is Estonia's national flower. Its Japanese and Chinese names compare it to the spinning arrow wheel atop carp-streamer poles.