Corn Cockle (Agrostemma githago L.)

Caryophyllaceae (Pink Family)

Pink Family members are perennial or annual herbs with mostly opposite, entire leaves and swollen nodes on the stem. The inflorescence is basically cyme-like. Fifteen genera and 45 species are found in TN.

Annual to 3 ft tall with the stem and branches thinly hairy. Leaves are opposite, entire, linear to Ianceolate, to 5 in. long and 0.4-in. wide. The flowers are solitary at the ends of the branches on stalks to 8 in. long. The calyx-tube is 0.5 to 0.7-in. long with lance- linear lobes from 0.8 to 1.6 in. long, usually longer than the petals. The petals are rose to reddish, oblanceolate, from 0.8 to 1.2 in. long. 

Occasional. Widely and thinly scattered in TN. A native of Europe now widely established as a weed of grain fields and waste places in most of the e U.S., more abundant north. Jul-Sep. 

The genus name is from the Greek agros (field) and stemma (crown).

Eight species are listed for Tennessee. The genus name is from arena (sand) in which many of the species grow. The plant is toxic and has been known to cause poisoning in livestock and humans.