Every week we show you a close up of one of the objects on display. Shortly after entering the museum you will encounter this object – but what is it?

Object of the week

Did you know what last week’s object of the week was?

Corn cockle

Well done if you knew it was a Corn cockle (Agrostemma githago)

This specimen was collected by Revd. Francis John Ottley in 1857, in the cornfields near Eton. All of his plant specimens were mounted on blue paper which makes them easy to recognise.

Many of the species he collected at that time were cornfield weeds that no longer grow here due to the increasing use of herbicides.

The Corn cockle which was once so abundant on farms is now close to extinction in Britain.