Fine cooking out in the cabbage patch

In the most recent issue of the fine cooking magazine Fine Cooking, the writers have gone out on a somewhat thin taxonomic limb.

The Brassicas article in Fine Cooking.  Photo by BotanicalAccuracy.com.

So, what do they write?

"Arugula and turnips bear little resemblance to one another on the plate, so you might be surprised to learn that they both belong to the cabbage family, otherwise known as Brassica."

Well, arugula and turnips are both member of the cabbage family, but that family is called Brassicaceae, the mustard or cabbage family. Even if turnips is placed in Brassica, arugula is not, and in fact, the two commonly cultivated species of arugula are in different genera.

The article continues:

"Other members include broccoli, Broccolini, broccoli raab, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage, collard greens, mizuna, tatsoi, kale, watercress, radish, and horseradish." 

Yes, these are all members of the mustard family Brassicaceae, but not all are species of the Brassica genus. Brassica is one of about 375 genera in the mustard family.  Some of the species listed are actually cultivars (domesticated varieties) of the same species of Brassica.  And what is going on with that capitalization on common names?  Lets capitalize every second word that starts with B?   

So how does this all work?  What is really the same genus and species of these delicious plants?  There are many cultivated plants in the Brassicaceae family (the mustard family). Brassica gave its name to the family Brassicaceae, like Rosa (roses) to Rosaceae (rose family), and Poa (bluegrass) to Poaceae (grasses). All plant families have scientific names that end with '-aceae', rather convenient when you try to tell them apart from other group names.

Giant cabbages (Brassica oleracea) at a market in Uzbekistan. Photo by Lena Struwe (Creative Commons).

There are many, many species and cultivars of Brassica (or brassicas, as they are sometimes called in English). The cultivated brassicas are ancient and a result of a lot of breeding, selection, and crossing of genotypes, so their taxonomy is a bit messy within Brassica itself. Sorting out the current common names, their scientific names, and classification of the brassicas has to wait for another blog post (which is in the works). But, the summary is:

The Brassica genus is a member of the family Brassicaceae. Many other edible mustard plants are placed in other genera of the Brassicaceae. 

Red berry, blue berry... cranberry, lingonberry?

In Scandinavia many forest berries are wild-harvested and then used for home canning of jams and sauces, and also sold commercially to companies to flavor drinks, juices, yogurt, desserts, jams, and so on.  Many of these are members of the Vaccinium genus in the blueberry family (Ericaceae).

lingonberry, also called cowberry, Vaccinium vitis-idaea
Public domain photo from Lindman's Bilder ur Nordens Flora

One of the most common ones is lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea), a low-growing blueberry relative with small, red, shiny, and clustered berries on short upright stalks and with leathery oblong leaves.  They look like little tiny bushes sticking out of the soil among mosses and lichens in the taiga forests. Lingonberries are a very Swedish thing, and served with classic pancakes, blood pudding (maybe not so common anymore, but served in public school when I grew up in Sweden), and traditional cheese cake. It is an incredibly well-known and common wild-foraged plant in Scandinavia.

Common names are not regulated, they are just used by people as they see fit over the world.  This species is called lingonberry in English most of Europe and North America, cowberry in parts of North America, and lowbush cranberry in Alaska.  Other names are wortleberry and mountain cranberry. Which leads to giant confusion with the cranberry species below when you only use common names.  

(European) cranberry, Vaccinium oxycoccus
Public domain photo from Lindman's Bilder ur Nordens Flora

Other Vaccinium species also has red delicious berries, and among the most well known in the Northern hemisphere are the cranberries. In Europe it is mostly the cranberry species  Vaccinium oxycoccus, and in North American cranberry the larger-fruited Vaccinium macrocarpon. Cranberries grow mostly on the surface of the peat moss in bogs. They have lonely berries on long thin stalks that are laying on the ground, and long creeping branches with small leaves.  They are not grown commercially in Scandinavia, but are cultivated in other parts of the world.  Their tart flavor means that they are often used for jelly to be served with meat, and also for cranberry juice.

Cranberries and lingonberries are very different-looking plants when you see them side by side, but despite their large morphological differences there are common mistake.   As usual the stock photo market is among the worst, and here are an abundance of cranberry photos that actually show lingonberry (the opposite is much less common, so people seem to know how lingonberry looks like, but not how cranberries do). However, if the photos are from Alaska, they might be correct if they meant the low-bush cranberry(=lingonberry/cowberry), but there is no way of knowing if they use the Alaskan meaning of cranberry, or if they made a plant identification mistake (that is why we have scientific names to keep things in order) . Here are some examples of 'cranberry' photos featuring lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea):

Herbal Extracts Plus website, showing lingonberry images on the cranberry page.
Screenshot by BotanicalAccuracy.com.

Dreamstime stock photo website, showing a cranberry image for sale, that actually shows lingonberry.
Screenshot by BotanicalAccuracy.com.

Botanic Innovations LLC website, showing a lingonberry photo on the page for Cranberry seed oil.
Screenshot by BotanicalAccuracy.com.

Seeds-Gallery website, showing a lingonberry photo on the page for American Cranberry seeds.
In this case we know what species they mean since they give the scientific name
Vaccinium macrocarpon, and that is Vaccinium vitis-idaea on the photo.
Screenshot by BotanicalAccuracy.com.

Stockphoto for sale on CanStock website, showing a lingonberry photo
marked as 'tranbär' (cranberry).
Screenshot by BotanicalAccuracy.com.

The problem is that many companies buy stock photos to illustrate websites and newsletters and commercial packaging, and that there is no taxonomic quality control nor scientific species names on the labeling of stock photos. Many companies appears to be unaware of that they are using the wrong species in their materials until someone points it out, and by then they have inadvertently provided false marketing and information by using inaccurately named images.  Here is a packaging example of cranberry herbal tea, showing lingonberries and cranberries on the box:

Caribbean Dreams Cranberry Herbal tea, showing branches of lingonberries, not cranberries, but with a cranberry bog in the background, and cranberries along the edge.

To further confuse the American public, there is also 'cranberry bush' or tree, which is a species in the unrelated genus Viburnum and have nothing do to with Vaccinium's.  But that will be a different story.

So, to summarize how to tell these species apart in a photo:

Lingonberry, cowberry, lowbush cranberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea): short plant with upright stems in forest, leaves leathery and oblong, often slightly curled at edges, berries clustered together

Cranberry (several species of Vaccinium, such as V. macrocarpon and V. oxycoccus): creeping plant on bogs, with long thin branches, leaves smaller, berries along on long thin fruit stalks

Magilla Gorilla and shady cultivars

[This is a guest post provided by Dr. Arthur O. Tucker, Delaware State University]

I know that if you’ve gone to the garden centers in the past few years, you have to have spotted plants with the label of ‘Magilla Perilla’ and ‘Magilla Vanilla.’ American nurseries and 99.9% of web sites insist that this may be a coleus-like plant, but it is definitely a perilla, not a coleus. Both perilla and coleus are members of the mint family, the Lamiaceae.

'Magilla Perilla'
Photo © Mississippi State University, fair use (link)

I e-mailed the company that introduced and distributed 'Magilla Perilla' in North America. Over a later telephone call, their “expert” insisted that these plants are perilla, not coleus, because the Japanese company that supplied them said so. Thus I was wrong and they were right.

Plant growing card for 'Perilla Magilla'. © Do Right's.com, fair use (link)

Perilla, alias wild coleus or perilla, is a monotypic genus encompassing only one species, Perilla frutescens (L.) R.Br.   Perilla is a culinary herb commonly used in Asian cooking. This is an annual plant, even its tropical cultivar from Viet Nam, ‘Tia To’, only survives one growing season.

Perilla frutescens, the true perilla, as a red-leaved variety.
Photo (cc) by Henry Heatly (link)

After perilla flowers and sets seed, it dies like a true annual should; nothing you can do will keep it alive for more than one season. The other distinguishing character of the genus Perilla is that the stamen filaments are not united at the base (i.e., not connate).

Coleus is nowadays usually classified as the species Solenostemon scutellarioides (L.) Codd, with older synonyms being Plectranthus scutellarioides (L.) R.Br. and Coleus blumei Benth. Coleus is a tropical perennial that is often treated as a summer annual in northern gardens. The other distinguishing character of our garden coleus is that the stamen filaments are basally united (i.e., connate, not free as in Perilla).

A garden coleus, Solenostemon scutellarioides, one of many varieties and cultivars.
Photo (cc) brighterorange (link)

The trouble is that ‘Magilla Perilla’ rarely flowers. We finally obtained a flowering specimen (now vouchered at DOV herbarium at Delaware State University), and it has basally united stamen filaments, so it is clearly a coleus, not a perilla. It is also a perennial and, if taken into the greenhouse over winter, continues to grow and flower as a perennial, just like coleus. Thus, ‘Magilla Perilla’ is a regular coleus, not a special perilla. 
 
In writing The Encyclopedia of Herbs (Timber Press, 2009), I wrote: “And a word to the wise: ‘Magilla Perilla’ and ‘Magilla Vanilla’ are coleus… not perilla…." The editor changed this sentence to say that ‘Magilla Perilla’ is a perilla, not coleus, because, as she insisted, every web site said such, so I must be wrong. Of course, in my typical fashion, I went ballistic, so to calm me they changed it back to my original writing.  By the same line of thinking, is ‘Magilla Vanilla’ a species of vanilla, an orchid? Ridiculous!

This is a classic case of suppliers not knowing what plant species they are supplying, companies trusting the suppliers wholeheartedly without checking the provided materials, companies spreading the wrong information, and in the end creating total confusion.  The plant looks like a coleus because it is one. 

Despite this, public and private gardening resources call it a perilla or a 'hybrid' of Perilla frutescens, and it has even been given the fake scientific name 'Perilla magella'. Information like this is spread by sources such as agricultural extension services in several US states,  Royal Horticultural Society in the UK, Local Gardener, and Dave's Garden.  There are a lot of corrections of this mistake needed online, in stores, and in print.  Mistakes happen, but when known, they should be fixed as soon as possible. 

So, to conclude:
'Magilla Perilla' and 'Magilla Vanilla' are the same species as the commonly grown coleus, just different cultivars. Their scientific name is Solenostemon scutellarioides. Neither of these two plants have anyhing to do with the culinary herb perilla.

A correction of this botanical mistake was also published in the Newsletter from the Herb Society of America in 2010. [link]

Frosty fern? It is a variegated spike moss

Before Christmas a fern-looking plant often shows up in the supermarkets and is marketed as 'frosty fern',  a name it gets from its fern-like leaves (more on that later) and white-tipped branches.

'Frosty fern' for sale, with rather zoologically inaccurate cardinals as highlights, but that is for another blog.
Photo (cc) BotanicalAccuracy.com.

Frosty fern for sale at Shoprite in New Jersey, USA.
Photo (cc) BotanicalAccuracy.com

But, in fact, it is no fern at all.  It is a Selaginella, a spike moss in the lycopod group.  It is also called African club moss or Krauss' spike moss, and its scientific species name is Selaginella kraussiana (family Selaginellaceae).  Many club mosses belong to another lycopod family, the Lycopodiaceae.

Ferns below to a different branch on the green tree of life, they are not lycopods.  The two evolutionary branches are about as different as a turtle and a salamander. We easily keep salamanders (and other amphibians) apart from turtles and tortoises in our brains, but green things from many different branches on the tree of life look very similar to us.

Lycopods evolved before ferns and have spores, just like ferns, but lycopods differ a lot in how their leaves are constructed.  Look closely, and you can see that lycopods have branches and stems with tiny scale-like leaves.  These leaves are called lycophylls. 

Some people mix up this plant with mosses, but real mosses are smaller and do not have roots like lycopods do.  Mosses also have scale-like leaves, called microphylls, and they are very similar to lycophylls just smaller.  So club mosses and spike mosses are not mosses.

A branch of a Selaginella (Frosty Fern) showing many, many small scale-like leaves.
Photo (cc) BotanicalAccuracy.com

Ferns on the other hand have large leaves, often divided, and these leaves are called euphylls, which means 'true leaves'.  Other groups with true leaves are conifers (needles!) and all flowering plants (oaks, grasses, and dandelions and such).  True leaves have many veins in them (look closely), but lycophylls and microphylls have only one vein in each leaf.

So, the common name of this plant is often 'frosty fern', and it is not uncommon for common names to give the wrong impression of a plant's taxonomic belonging.  Just think of names such as 'lucky bamboo' (not a bamboo at all) and reindeer moss (a lichen).  Common names are everyday names, often traditional, used among people so we can communicate about the plants around us.  The real problem starts when we think this plant is a fern.  And that happens, and then the botanical mistake is a fact induced by the not-so-great common name.  Such as in this example:

"Never allow the soil to dry around your frosty fern. This fern doesn't tolerate dry periods or waterlogged soil."  (link to source at GardenGuides.com)

Suddenly the spike moss became a fern for real in that quote. And suddenly, a botanical inaccuracy have been introduced in our way of thinking about this plant, because of its name. So therefore it is best to avoid such common names and instead use names that are more appropriate, like Krauss' spike moss.  

The same thing can happen among animals, but usually we know that guinea pigs are not pigs, and that seahorses are not horses, and that ant lions are only very, very distantly related to lions. All because animals are a little more charismatic than plants and it is easier for us to relate to them as pets, food, dangers, or just crazy, cool species. (In reality plants are more of your food than animals are and as dangerous and cool as animals.)

Here is a great blogpost about this plant and its botanical inaccuracies from New Hampshire Garden Solutions.  George Rogers has also written about this plant in a great little article in North County Current. Just remember not to introduce this non-native plant to your subtropical garden in southern United States, since it can easily become invasive.

Reindeer moss is a lichen, not a moss

There are several species of lichens that often are sold as 'mosses', and reindeer lichen is one of the most common.  It is frequently used in holiday and flower decorations and for trees and shrubs in train model making. This type of lichen grows on wet soil and rocks in northern temperate forests and are often harvested and sold commercially.

Here are some examples of wrongly labeled products:

SuperMoss, which is not a moss, but a lichen.
© Supermoss, fair use.

Terrarium necklace with 'moss', which in this case is a lichen.
© Catherine Weitzman for Uncommon Goods. fair use.

"Moss Heart Ring", also made only with a lichen, no moss.
© AbstractAverun on Etsy, fair use

So, who cares if you call it a moss instead of a lichen?  Well, those two organism are about as different as a cat and a katydid, and if you mixed up those two you would care, right? (For those that need to know, a katydid is like a giant, green grasshopper with long antennae. It is an insect, not a mammal, like a cat.)   Reindeer 'moss' and the real mosses might look similar, especially when the lichen is stained artificially green, but they are very, very different and not closely related.

Lichens are a kind of organism that is formed by a fungus and an algae (and bacteria too) that live together in symbiosis.  They can look crusty, leafy, bushy, and branchy and grow on soil, bark, rocks, and leaves.  Often they are only green when wet, otherwise the fungus gives the lichen a more gray, white, yellow, or black color.  The algae inside the lichen is a small microscopic plant that is related to planktonic and marine green algae (and a few green algae that live on land too). Green algae are the precursors to the land plants, including mosses. Lichens never have real leaves. Sometimes you can see lichens with colorful 'cups' on them, those are the sporangia of the fungus that can spread fungal lichen spores around.  Lichens grow extremely slow and can live in many extreme environments (cold, heat, dry, etc.).

Mosses are small land plants that spread with spores from structures called sporangia. Mosses have small real leaves on stems and no flowers.  Mosses are most closely related to ferns, conifers, and flowering plants (instead of algae).

So, to sell something as a moss that is really a lichen is false marketing and provides the wrong product information.  This linguistic mistake and error has been around for a long time, and it is time to change it.  Of course, you can argue that common names are OK even if they are wrong, but why perpetuate such an error when we have the perfectly fine name 'reindeer lichen' already?

So,

CORRECT NAME: Reindeer lichen, caribou lichen

INCORRECT NAME: Reindeer moss, caribou moss

Lessonia: 'Marine lichen' is not a lichen, it is a red algae

Lessonia is a company that provides ingredients to cosmetics companies.  They specialize in exfoliators and botanical extracts, including several from seaweeds. 

So, what is a seaweed?  This common name has been used for all multi-cellular (= not one-celled planktonic) algae that grow (mostly) in marine areas, regardless of which group of algae they belong to.  So included in seaweeds are green, red, or brown algae, which all belongs to different evolutionary lineages. You have kelp (brown), sea lettuce (green), carrageenan (red), nori (red algae of sushi fame), and so on.

There are only a few flowering plants that live in the ocean similar to seaweeds, the most well-known being eelgrass (Zostera marina).   So, seaweed is a practical common-name term we humans use and it groups many unrelated plants together. Algae is the same, that group name is also a practical group name of no taxonomic use anymore since it doesn't define an evolutionary group with a common ancestor and common history.

The group 'Algae' in fact includes members from maybe 8-9 different evolutionary lineages.  We taxonomists sometimes call such groups 'taxonomic trashbags', since they contain a mishmash of many different things that are unrelated to each other.  But when you talk about oceans, we can use the term algae just to identify their plant life.

Irish moss (Chondrus crispus), a red algae.
(cc) Vilseskogen on Flickr

Back to Lessonia - this company sells something call Lichen Glycerin Extract.  In their brochure about this product, also called 'Marine Lichen', they say:

"Marine lichen lives on rocks, in pools, lower intertide."

"The Lichen glycerin extract is [...]  polysaccharides contained in this red algae.  "

The listed ingredient for the Lichen Glycerine extract following the INCI guidelines are:

"GLYCERIN & WATER & CHONDRUS CRISPUS EXTRACT"

Irish moss (Chondrus crispus).
Public domain image, Chondrus, Wikipedia

So, what is Chondrus crispus?  This species of red algae is often called Irish moss or carageen moss, and is the marine source of the compound carageenan, a thickener often used in icecream and many other food products (and some cosmetics too).  This plant has absolutely nothing to do with lichens, and in fact, there are no lichens that live in the sea.  On the rocks along the shore, yes, but nothing permanently under water.  To call this 'Marine Lichen' is as wrong as calling an elephant a giant ostrich.  

Why not call this MARINE IRISH MOSS EXTRACT?  

This plant has already the common name of 'Irish moss', which of course has nothing to do with real mosses that are green land plants - but traditionally commonly used names are OK to use.  Introducing a big misrepresentation by calling this plant a lichen is something very different. Lichens, by the way, are organisms where a fungus and a plant (usually green algae) live together in symbiosis.  Which is very cool!

 

The New York Times: Restaurant NOMA in Copenhagen

In July 6, 2010, The New York Times published an article by Frank Bruni about the amazing and world-renowned restaurant NOMA in Copenhagen and the foraging of food products from wild plants by its chef, René Redzepi.  

The well-written article was accompanied by a slideshow named "In Copenhagen, Cooking without Rules", showing some of the nature-provided ingredients in chef Redzepi's food. Unfortunately the text accompanying some of the images were incorrect. The New York Times was notified about these errors, but has not yet corrected the information.

Screenshot from NY Times article, by BotanicalAccuracy.com.

Image text: "Axel berry shoots are among the various petals, leaves and shoots Mr. Redzepi integrates into his food."

The problem and its correction:  This appears to be whitebeam flower buds from a small tree named 'oxel' in Swedish, 'whitebeam' in English, and its scientific genus is Sorbus (in the rose family Rosaceae).  The flower buds on this photo are probably from either Sorbus aria (akselrøn in Danish, common Whitebeam in English) or Sorbus intermedia (seljerøn; Swedish whitebeam).  
     The rowan tree (Sorbus aucuparia, rönn in Swedish, almindelig røn in Danish) is closely related to these, but in my experience that never has white-hairy flower buds. I have found no record that this species has ever been called 'axel berry' or 'axel', in English, Danish, or Swedish for that matter.  
     I think the photographer misheard the Danish name 'akselrøn' or the Swedish name 'oxel' when he took notes and then never checked the typed up name with the source. The seeds in the fruits might contain cyanide, just like many other plants of this family, but the photo shows young flower buds.

Screenshot from NY Times article, by BotanicalAccuracy.com.

Image text: "Thuja cone"'

The problem:  This is not a Thuja (arborvitae) cone, it is a cone from a pine tree, most likely Scots Pine, Pinus sylvestris (Pinaceae), the pine species that is native to Denmark.  The photo shows an immature pine cone, before the seeds have formed inside it.  Pines are edible plants, even if they often have strong resin flavor.  Thuja is a member of the juniper family Cupressaceae, and it contains the chemical thujone, which you don't want to ingest too much of since it can be highly toxic.  The cones of the commonly cultivated arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis) look totally different, so there is no easy way to explain this inaccuracy in the information provided by The New York Times.

  (Both images are screenshots from the NY Times website used under fair use, photos © The New York Times.)

This post was updated with new information on 28 January 2014. Thanks MF for sending new information! 

LUSH: Which bay leaf plant?

 On the cosmetics company LUSH's web page they list information about all their ingredients.  Here is their information for "Fresh Bay Leaf Infusion (Pimenta Acris)", which features a major botanical inaccuracy. 

Screenshot from LUSH webpage about bay leaf
© LUSH, fair use<!--[if gte mso 9]>

The bay leaf, laurel, bay laurel, or sweet bay commonly used in European cooking and herbal medicine is named Laurus nobilis.  In the text below the heading, this name is listed, with appropriate and correct information regarding this species' origin, history, and use. This is probably also the species in the photograph, but it is hard to tell. Laurus is in the laurel family, Lauraceae.

However, the name Pimenta acris refers to a totally different plant species, the West Indian Bay Tree, which has a multitude of common names and its origin is in the Caribbean.  It is also used for its essential oils in cooking, but high concentrations of the oil is toxic.  The current, updated scientific name is Pimenta racemosa, so Pimenta acris is a synonym, and this little tree belongs to the eucalyptus family, Myrtaceae. 

So, which plant did LUSH use in their products?  It is impossible to tell from their website, but lets hope they know...

Gordolobo is or isn't mullein?

 On a recent trip to Minnesota I bought a packet of Mexican herbs by the company Mi Costeñita sold as Gordolobo, a common medicinal plant used in traditional medicine. Under the Mexican name, the translated name in English was listed as 'mullein leaves'.

'Gordolobo mullein leaves', which is instead some Asteraceae flowers.
(cc) BotanicalAccuracy.com

A closer inspection of the packet revealed that the content was certainly not dried leaves, certainly not mullein's fuzzy leaves, but something that looked like flower heads of the plant family Asteraceae (similar to everlasting flower heads). Here is a close-up photo.

Close up of'Gordolobo mullein leaves', which is Asteraceae flowers.
(cc) BotanicalAccuracy.com

It seems that the content of this packet is flower heads of gordolobo, which in English is also called "Rabbit Tobacco, Sweet Everlasting, Cudweed, Old Field Balsam, Sweet White Balsam, Indian Posy, Life of Man, Poverty Weed, and Fussy Gussy" and its scientific name is Gnaphalium obtusifolium.  An informative article by Matthew Wood on this species is posted on Sunnyfield Herb Farm's webpage, here.

University of Texas-El Paso's website with herb fact sheets give additional information about Gnaphalium's medicinal uses and adds the common name 'mexican mullein'.

Many of the Gnaphalium species are look-alikes, so it is hard to tell which exact species this is just from a visual inspection.  It certainly isn't mullein leaves, which look like this if it is Verbascum thapsus, the common weedy species called common mullein.  Mullein is a member of the family Scrophulariaceae (related to snapdragons), and far removed from the chemistry of the sunflower family Asteraceae.

But, to add to the confusion, the name gordolobo is also used for mullein in Spanish - so, maybe the label isn't wrong but the content of the package?  Wikipedia lists only two species of Verbascum, no Gnaphalium, under the entry "Té de Gordolobo".  It is impossible to know if the producer and seller of this product intended this to be Gnaphalium or Verbascum... problematic to say the least.

So, the name gordolobo is used in Spanish for two different herbals with very different chemistry.  This is why it is important to use not only common names on packages, but also the unique scientific name.  You need to know what you buy and drink and eat, and sellers need to know what they sell. 

Weleda: Wrong centaury

Weleda is a company providing skincare, health, and beauty products based on natural ingredients and biodynamic principles.  They list their plant ingredients in an online dictionary (more companies should do this, it is an excellent resource), and get their botanical taxonomy mostly correct (with the exception of their capitalization of species epithets).

There are, however, one major mistake, and this is a mistake that is not uncommon.  The common name centaury is used for several unrelated plant genera, most commonly Centaurium (a gentian, in Gentianaceae), and Centaurea in the sunflower and aster family (Asteraceae).

The plant listed as "Centaury (Centaurium Erythraea)", should be Centaurium erythraea, but the photo at Weleda's website is of Centaurea cyanus, so the two genera are also mixed up.  It is simply the wrong species photo with the bitter-tasting Centaurium plant they use in their products.

Centaury, screenshot from Weleda.com

The common name for the blue-flowered Centaurea cyanus is often cornflower, since it is a common weed in grain fields in Europe (corn in Europe is not the same as American corn, that is called maize in Europe). Centaurium erythraea on the other hand is a pink-flowered herb that grows in meadows, roadsides, and slightly wet areas. 

The species epithet should be listed with a lower case letter in the beginning, as 'erythraea'.  Weleda gets this formatting rule wrong for most of its plant species names, but that is easy to fix. For example, 'Arnica Montana' should be 'Arnica montana' in the ingredient list to be accurate.

Common names that are the same for several unrelated species are not at all unusual; examples are snakeroot, hemlock, sycamore, and ironweed. One species can have several common names too, so common names can be very confusing. Only scientific names are unique to a species and universal and the same worldwide.  But more on that in a later post.