Lovely blue invader?

It's a nice flower currently in bloom and appears to be poised to take over one particular area of our site based on it's current coverage. It doesn't look native.

 

Nope, not native: [WIKI]cornflower[/WIKI] or Centaurea cyanus.

 

Thanks for the ID. The plant seems to be very aggressive. It looks like it's just flowing down the hill taking over a 10 metre wide swath.

 

Yes, locally aggressive once it becomes established, but not generally able to disperse far. It's not listed in the Weeds of BC as an invasive, but I suspect that's because of its inability to go beyond a local infestation.

If this were my property, I'd remove it (or drastically reduce the population - I'd probably keep a few around under a close eye for the sake of photographing the blue flowers, but that's just me)

 

Tempting to do myself, unfortunately I just work here. It's Federal Government property and they've been very opposed to work parties for liability reasons. We've been getting some invasive species removed by outside services - mostly the broom which is a bigger issue for us since it creates a significant fire hazard as well.

Thanks for the Weeds of BC link. Hopefully that will eliminate some of my dumb question posts. Great site by the way. I've only explored a small part of it.

 

Cornflowers make great cut flowers. Cut a bunch and take them home!

 

Hey there's an idea! That would look pretty amazing too.

 

Centaurea cyanus is native to Europe and to Slovenia (where I live) too. Some 50 years ago it was a common flower making golden corn fields wonderfully spotted with deep blue stars in addition to bright red eyes of poppy (Papaver rhoes). Today it is in sharp decline, actually already a rare plant. I haven't seen a single (wild, cultivars exist too) one for years. If things go in the same way in future it will be soon put on Slovene Red List of Endangered species. The reason for that is systematic treating of corn seeds or may be something else ... Who knows? Anyway, in my country it doesn't seem a highly competitive species at all.

Warmest regards
Amadej

 

It has been on the UK red list of endangered species for quite a long time, only a small handful of localities left.

Now if all the ones in Canada could be repatriated . . .

 

Interesting. Well it is certainly happy here. I wandered through the area that it's taken over yesterday. I'd say 20-30 plants per square metre in the centre. Better competition in it's native habitat I guess.