The Corn Cockle is common everywhere. It grows in the cornfields, and
you find its pink flowers all summer.
The flowers are large and handsome. In shape they are like a Primrose,
but the petals are pale pink and each has a tiny notch in the outer
edge. On these petals there are tiny lines of dark purple dots, like
rays, which run from the centre of the flower almost to the edge of the
petal. The heads of the stamens can only just be seen in the centre of
the flower where the five petals meet.
Behind the pink flower there is a green calyx-cup marked with ten
ridges, and at the mouth of this cup there are five narrow green teeth,
which are so long they look like pointed leaves. These sepals are dark
green inside, but the outside is pale green and woolly. You can see
their sharp points standing out beyond each of the petals of the flower.
The stem of the Corn Cockle is stiff, and it grows very straight. Like
the calyx-cup, it is covered with soft white wool.
The leaves grow in pairs on each side of the stem. These leaves are long
and narrow, with pointed ends. Each leaf is dark green above, but the
back is always pale grey-green and woolly.