Cow Wheat is an annual, herbaceous, flowering, wildflower. It is a hemi-parasite, gathering nutrients from other plants. It is in the broom/rape family and native to the woods, scrub, heaths and upland moors of northern Europe and central Siberia and can also be found, though rarely, in hedgerows and deciduous woodland on chalk and limestone. The plant has yellow flowers in pairs, both facing the same way, making this plant unmistakable when in bloom during the summer. The genus name comes from the Greek words for black and wheat, referring to the fact that if seeds of the plant are included with wheat for grinding, the resulting flour is blackened. The species name means 'of meadows', the typical site for the plant. Cow Wheat grows best in well-drained, nutrient-poor acidic soils in full sun or partial shade. It is less common in alkaline soils, but it can tolerate lime and is sometimes found on chalk and in soil containing limestone. The large seeds contain a fleshy structure that is consumed by wood ants, who disperse the seeds as they bring them back to their nest. Because the ants do not travel more than a few yards, the presence of these plants indicate that the woodland is well established. The plant is relatively short and can be grown in a container or as a mass-planting producing a flowering ground cover. It is an annual, but the seeds can spread for next year's crop. Diseases, Insect Pests, and Other Plant Problems: No known diseases or insect pests.
Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds
whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.
No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.
Also noted by NC State
Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell
apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.
Dappled Sunlight (Shade through upper canopy all day) | Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day) | Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
Soil texture
Loam (Silt); Shallow Rocky
Soil pH
Acid (<6.0)
Soil drainage
Good Drainage | Moist
Available space
Less than 12 inches
Growth rate
Medium
Maintenance
Low
Canopy layer
5 - Groundcover
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Dense; Spreading
Foliage
Deciduous
Leaf color
Green
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf arrangement
Opposite
Leaf shape
Lanceolate
Leaf feel
Smooth
Hairs present
No
Leaf detail
Broad, stalkless narrow, tapering, smooth leaves in distant pairs, each pair at right angles to those next to it.
Flower color
Gold/Yellow
Flower value
Showy
Flower form
Head; Solitary
Flower shape
Tubular
Flower detail
Single, long-tubed pale yellow flowers in the axils of the upper leaves in pairs, all turning one way; green leafy bracts. Deep golden flowers during the summer.
Bloom time
Summer
Fruit type
Capsule
Fruit detail
Elliptic, flat, capsule roughly twice as long as calyx, usually with 4 seeds. Seeds are attached to a fleshy structure (elaiosome), rich in lipids and proteins and attractive to the ants that disperse the seed.
Wildlife & Ecology
Native status
Non-native
Origin
Europe to Central Siberia
Distribution
Great Britain, Western and central Asia.
Wildlife value
Food plant for the caterpillar of the Melitaea athalia butterfly.