Archaeologists working at Külhöyük, a mound in Ankara’s Gölbaşı district, have discovered the oldest known seed remains of Turkey’s rare ‘love flower’ inside a Hittite jug dating back approximately 4,000 years. The discovery, announced by Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy in September 2026, offers evidence that the distinctive flower has existed in the region since the Bronze Age. However, the plant, known to botanists as *Centaurea tchihatcheffii*, is now critically endangered, and its survival may depend partly on how and when farmers cultivate the fields where it grows.Locally called ‘sevgi çiçeği’, the flower is found naturally only in the Gölbaşı area around Ankara, making it an endemic species with a highly restricted geographical range. Turkish conservation authorities classify it as critically endangered. The excavation was directed by Derya Yilmaz Tekin of Ankara University, whose report on the 2024 excavation season provided details about the unusual discovery.According to Tekin, the jug is a nearly complete piece of coarse pottery with a rounded body. Three small knobs sit on its shoulder, while its handle and rim are broken. It was discovered in Room 1 of a large building at the centre of the archaeological mound. The room also contained the base of a storage vessel, weaving weights made from broken pottery, a piece of an obsidian blade and a damaged mud-brick hearth.Other objects recovered from the same building included fragments of bull-headed cult bowls and unfinished seals. Tekin interpreted these findings as possible evidence of a seal cutter’s workshop, with most of the discoveries dating to the beginning of the Old Hittite period.Archaeobotanists Emel Oybak-Dönmez and Barbaros Yaman examined the ancient plant remains recovered from the site. Their initial analysis of the 2024 material identified bread wheat, einkorn, barley, lentils and bitter vetch. Oak seeds and remains of the love flower also appeared in the site’s second-millennium BC layers.The specialists identified the flower remains inside the jug as the oldest known seed material of the species. Tekin said the botanical evidence suggested that the plant had been present in the region since the Hittite period. However, researchers have not established why the seeds were placed inside the vessel or whether they were being stored for a particular purpose.Külhöyük is itself an important archaeological site. According to Ankara University, the mound measures approximately 820 feet in length, 490 feet in width and 72 feet in height. Settlement at the site began around the third millennium BC under the Hattians, before it developed into a Hittite city during the following millennium.The site came to archaeological attention in 1978 after illegal excavators exposed it. Museum teams subsequently conducted 14 seasons of rescue excavations between 1992 and 2006, uncovering massive stone city walls. Tekin has led the more recent excavation work since 2021, representing Ankara University and Turkey’s Culture and Tourism Ministry.Despite having survived in the region for thousands of years, Centaurea tchihatcheffii faces several threats. The Turkish government’s nature conservation directorate lists urban development, intensive farming, herbicide use and the burning of agricultural stubble among the pressures affecting the species. A 2008 doctoral study by Yasemin Ergüner Baytok at Middle East Technical University examined the plant’s distribution and population trends. The researcher mapped 14 scattered subpopulations and monitored two of them between 2004 and 2008. One of the study’s findings was particularly significant: herbicides emerged as the most serious human-related threat, causing high plant mortality and reducing seed germination. However, the research also found that cultivation practices could have a more complicated relationship with the flower’s survival.Tillage, or the mechanical turning of agricultural soil, was found to increase plant density in the following year. Baytok’s modelling suggested that delaying ploughing until after the plants had produced seeds could help populations remain viable. The study recommended ploughing protected patches after seed-setting, ideally once every two years.Authorities have already undertaken measures to protect the species. A conservation project around Lake Mogan began in 2016, involving fencing off growing areas, managing agricultural land, collecting seeds and sowing them in suitable locations. The flower also received geographical indication registration in 2019 through the Gölbaşı Municipality, recognising its association with the region. Its local name ‘yanardöner’ refers to its changing appearance under different light conditions. The annual plant belongs to the daisy family and produces flowers in red, pink, purple and whitish shades. Its flowering season generally runs from late April to early July.