Common Poppy

Our wild annual poppy flowers from June.  The seeds survive a long time in the soil, germinating when the soil is disturbed.

Species introduction

At a glance
Latin name: 
Papaver rhoeas
Family: 
Poppies
Family Latin name: 
PAPAVERACEAE
Category: 
Flowering Plants
Vernacular names: 

Corn-poppy, Field poppy

Species description

Species description

Our wild annual poppy flowers from June. It was a common sight in agricultural areas, before the advent of herbicides, as the seeds survive a long time in the soil, germinating when the soil is disturbed.

Poppy extracts have a mildly narcotic effect. The poppy is called the 'thunder flower' because of the belief that if a stranger sees a maiden pick one it will thunder above that spot. The rarity of this event may indicate a shortage of maidens. If a picked poppy's petals fall the picker will be struck by lightning. Certain preparations, such as for tonsillitis, use the petals, but generally it is the seeds that are used for their nutty taste. They are commonly used in bread making. Paste the freshly shaped loaf with beaten egg and sprinkle on the seeds. Make cuts along the top then bake after proving. The seeds can also be kneaded into the dough, or folded into cake, bun or biscuit mixtures.

Species photographs

Larger photograph(s) (click to magnify)

Details

Species family information

This family is important for the members that have pharmaceutical uses, many characterised by milky or coloured sap.

Category information

Nucleic multicellular photosynthetic organisms lived in freshwater communities on land as long ago as a thousand million years, and their terrestrial descendants are known from the late Pre-Cambrian 850 million years ago. Embryophyte land plants are known from the mid Ordovician, and land plant structures such as roots and leaves are recognisable in mid Devonian fossils. Seeds seem to have evolved by the late Devonian. The Embryophytes are green land plants that form the bulk of the Earth’s vegetation. They have specialised reproductive organs and nurture the young embryo sporophyte. Most obtain their energy by photosynthesis, using sunlight to synthesise food from Carbon Dioxide and Water.

The earliest known plant group is the Archaeplastida, which were autotrophic. Listing just the surviving descendants, which evolved in turn, we have the Red Algae, the Chlorophyte Green Algae, the Charophyte Green Algae, and then the Embryophyta or land plants. The earliest embryophytes were the Liverworts, followed by the Hornworts, and the Mosses. Then we have the Vascular Plants, the Lycophytes and Ferns, followed by the Spermatophytes or seed plants, the Gnetophytes, Conifers, Ginkgos, and Cycads, and finally the Magnoliophyta (Angiosperms) or flowering plants.