Papaver rhoeas

Last updated

Papaver rhoeas
Koeh-101.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Ranunculales
Family: Papaveraceae
Genus: Papaver
Species:
P. rhoeas
Binomial name
Papaver rhoeas
Synonyms [2]
  • Papaver commutatumFisch., C.A.Mey. & Trautv.
  • Papaver insignitumJord.
  • Papaver intermediumBecker
  • Papaver rhoeas var. strigosumBoenn.
  • Papaver rhoeas subsp. strigosumSimonk.
  • Papaver roubiaeiVig.
  • Papaver strigosumSchur
  • Papaver tenuissimumFedde
  • Papaver trilobumWallr.
  • Papaver tumidulumKlokov

Papaver rhoeas, with common names including common poppy, [3] corn poppy, corn rose, field poppy, [4] Flanders poppy, and red poppy, is an annual herbaceous species of flowering plant in the poppy family Papaveraceae. It is a temperate native with a very wide distribution area, from Africa to temperate and tropical Asia and Europe.

Contents

It is regarded as an agricultural weed (hence the common names including "corn" and "field"). As the plant thrives in areas of disturbed soil, it was often abundant in agricultural fields before the advent of herbicides. Flushes of poppies may still appear in fields where herbicides are not used, as well as those in fallow. The corn poppy and its cultivars such as the Shirley poppy are widely grown in gardens, and are frequently found in packets of seed labelled "wildflower mixes". Since World War I, it has been used in the Commonwealth as a symbol of remembrance for fallen soldiers.

Description

The three stages in a common poppy flower: bud, flower, and capsule Poster papaver 3a.jpg
The three stages in a common poppy flower: bud, flower, and capsule

Papaver rhoeas is a variable, erect annual, forming a long-lived soil seed bank that can germinate when the soil is disturbed. In the Northern Hemisphere it generally flowers in late spring (between May and October in the UK) [4] but if the weather is warm enough other flowers frequently appear at the beginning of autumn. It grows up to about 70 centimetres (28 inches) in height. The stems hold single flowers, [4] [5] which are large and showy, 5–10 cm (2–4 in) across, [6] :32 with four petals that are vivid red, most commonly with a black spot at their base. The petals slightly overlap each other. [4] The plant can produce up to 400 flowers in a warm season, that last only one day. [4] The flower stem is usually covered with coarse hairs that are held at right angles to the surface, helping to distinguish it from P. dubium in which the hairs are more usually appressed (i.e. held close to the stem). The capsules are hairless, obovoid (egg-shaped), less than twice as tall as they are wide, with a stigma at least as wide as the capsule. Like many other species of Papaver, the plant exudes white to yellowish latex when the tissues are broken. [7] :94

Not all corn poppies that are available commercially have red flowers. Selective breeding has resulted in cultivars in yellow, orange, pink, and white. The Shirley poppy is a well known cultivar. A very pale speckled variety, derived from the Shirley, is also available.

A nearly black-flowering hybrid, known as 'Evelina', was bred in Italy in the late 1990s, with P. dubium, but does not appear to be available commercially. [8]

Phytochemistry

Papaver rhoeas contains the alkaloid called rhoeadine, which is a mild sedative. [2] Rhoeadic acid, papaveric acid and rhoeagenine are also found in this plant.[ citation needed ]

Taxonomy

It was formally described by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in his seminal publication Species Plantarum in 1753. [2] [9] Papaver is the Latin word for poppy and rhoeas means the corn poppy in Greek. [2]

Natural history

Capsules Papaver rhoeas capsules.jpg
Capsules

Its origin is not known for certain. As with many such plants, the area of origin is often ascribed by Americans to Europe, and by northern Europeans to southern Europe. It is known to have been associated with agriculture in the Old World since early times and has had an old symbolism and association with agricultural fertility. It has most of the characteristics of a successful weed of agriculture. These include an annual lifecycle that fits into that of most cereals, a tolerance of simple weed control methods, the ability to flower and seed itself before the crop is harvested, and the ability to form a long-lived seed bank. The leaves and latex have an acrid taste and are mildly poisonous to grazing animals. [10]

A sterile hybrid with P. dubium is known, P. × hungaricum, that is intermediate in all characteristics with P. rhoeas. [7]

P. rhoeas topped the list in a UK study of meadow pollen production, on a per flower basis, with its rate of 13.3 ± 2.8 μl. The California poppy placed second with a rate of 8.3 ± 1.1 μl. The pollen production of P.rhoeas, on a per flower basis, was very high in comparison with the other plants tested, at almost triple the amount of the top-ranked perennial (a mallow). When sampled at the level of the entire capitulum, however, it was outranked by the ox-eye daisy, Leucanthemum vulgare , with its 15.9 ± 2 μl measurement. It tied with Cosmos bipinnatus . Neither poppy produced a significant quantity of nectar, making their role in meadow ecology specific to pollen-gathering/consuming insects. [11] As poppies are not wind-pollinated, their pollen poses no allergy risk via inhalation.

Distribution and habitat

The species is found within Africa, in Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Madeira Islands, and the Canary Islands. [12] Within temperate Asia, it is found in the Caucasus regions of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Ciscaucasia. In Western Asia, it is found in Afghanistan, Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Palestine, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Turkey. Within tropical Asia, it is found in Pakistan and India.[ citation needed ] Within Europe, it is found in Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Ukraine, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Switzerland, Denmark, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, France, Portugal, and Spain. [12] [2] [5]

It grows in fields, beside roads, and on grasslands. [4] It is hardy to between USDA Zone 8 and Zone 10, or down to 10 °F (−12 °C). [5]

Uses

The commonly grown garden decorative Shirley poppy is a cultivar of this plant. [4]

The black seeds are edible, and can be eaten either on their own or as an ingredient in bread. In many Eastern European countries, poppy seeds are boiled in water or milk, and then ground together with honey or sugar to achieve a sweet, soft paste, often used generously in pastries. Oil made from the seed is highly regarded in France. [2]

The petals contain a red dye which is used in some medicines and wines; also the dried petals are occasionally used to give colour to potpourris. [2]

In traditional folk medicine, it was used for gout, aches, and pains. The petals were used to create a syrup that was fed to children to help them sleep. [4]

Culture

Due to the extent of ground disturbance in warfare during World War I, corn poppies bloomed between the trench lines and no man's lands on the Western front. Poppies are a prominent feature of "In Flanders Fields" by Canadian Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, one of the most frequently quoted English-language poems composed during the First World War. During the 20th century, the wearing of a poppy at and before Remembrance Day (sometimes known informally as Poppy Day) each year became an established custom in English-speaking western countries. [4] It is also used at some other dates in some countries, such as at appeals for Anzac Day in Australia and New Zealand.

This poppy appears on a number of postage stamps, coins, banknotes, and national flags, including:

The common or corn poppy was voted the county flower of Essex and Norfolk in 2002 following a poll by the wild plant conservation charity Plantlife. [13]

China

In China, P. rhoeas is known as yumeiren (虞美人, meaning "Yu the Beauty"), after Consort Yu, the concubine of the warlord Xiang Yu. In 202 BC, when they were besieged in the Battle of Gaixia by the force of Liu Bang (founder of the Han Dynasty), Consort Yu committed suicide; according to folklore, poppies grew out of the ground where Consort Yu fell, and P. rhoeas thus became a symbol of loyalty unto death. [14]

In 2010, P. rhoeas was at the centre of a diplomatic controversy between China and the United Kingdom; during an official visit to China, British Prime Minister David Cameron and his entourage rejected a demand from China to not wear the remembrance poppy, which the Chinese government had mistaken for the opium poppy, a plant that carries connotations of the Opium Wars in China. [15]

Persian literature

In Persian literature, red poppies, especially red corn poppy flowers, are considered the flower of love. They are often called the eternal lover flower. In classic and modern Persian poems, the poppy is a symbol of people who died for love (Persian: راه عشق).

Many poems interchange "poppy" and "tulip" (Persian: لاله).

[I] was asking the wind in the field of tulips during the sunrise: whose martyrs are these bloody shrouded?

[The wind] replied: Hafez, you and I are not capable of this secret, sing about red wine and sweet lips.

Urdu literature

In Urdu literature, red poppies, or "Gul-e-Lalah", are often a symbol of martyrdom, and sometimes of love.

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Eschscholzia californica</i> Species of flowering plant and state flower of California

Eschscholzia californica, the California poppy, golden poppy, California sunlight or cup of gold, is a species of flowering plant in the family Papaveraceae, native to the United States and Mexico. It is cultivated as an ornamental plant flowering in summer, with showy cup-shaped flowers in brilliant shades of red, orange and yellow. It is also used as food or a garnish. It became the official state flower of California in 1903.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poppy</span> Species of flowering plant in the family Papaveraceae

A poppy is a flowering plant in the subfamily Papaveroideae of the family Papaveraceae. Poppies are herbaceous plants, often grown for their colourful flowers. One species of poppy, Papaver somniferum, is the source of the narcotic drug mixture opium which contains powerful medicinal alkaloids such as morphine and has been used since ancient times as an analgesic and narcotic medicinal and recreational drug. It also produces edible seeds. Following the trench warfare in the poppy fields of Flanders, Belgium during World War I, poppies have become a symbol of remembrance of soldiers who have died during wartime, especially in the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and other Commonwealth realms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wildflower</span> Flower that grows in the wild, not intentionally planted

A wildflower is a flower that grows in the wild, meaning it was not intentionally seeded or planted. The term implies that the plant is neither a hybrid nor a selected cultivar that is any different from the native plant, even if it is growing where it would not naturally be found. The term can refer to the whole plant, even when not in bloom, and not just the flower.

<i>Papaver</i> Genus of flowering plants in the poppy family Papaveraceae

Papaver is a genus of 70–100 species of frost-tolerant annuals, biennials, and perennials native to temperate and cold regions of Eurasia, Africa and North America. It is the type genus of the poppy family, Papaveraceae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Papaveraceae</span> Family of flowering plants

The Papaveraceae are an economically important family of about 42 genera and approximately 775 known species of flowering plants in the order Ranunculales, informally known as the poppy family. The family is cosmopolitan, occurring in temperate and subtropical climates, but almost unknown in the tropics. Most are herbaceous plants, but a few are shrubs and small trees. The family currently includes two groups that have been considered to be separate families: Fumariaceae and Pteridophyllaceae.

<i>Papaver somniferum</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Papaveraceae

Papaver somniferum, commonly known as the opium poppy or breadseed poppy, is a species of flowering plant in the family Papaveraceae. It is the species of plant from which both opium and poppy seeds are derived and is also a valuable ornamental plant grown in gardens. Its native range was east of the Mediterranean Sea, but now is obscured by ancient introductions and cultivation, being naturalized across much of Europe and Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poppy tea</span> Herbal tea made out of poppy straw or poppy seeds

Poppy tea is an herbal tea infusion brewed from poppy straw or seeds of several species of poppy. The species most commonly used for this purpose is Papaver somniferum, which produces opium as a natural defense against predators. In the live flower, opium is released when the surface of the bulb, called the seed pod, is pierced or scraped. For the purpose of the tea, dried pods are more commonly used than the pods of the live flower. The walls of the dried pods contain opiate alkaloids, primarily consisting of morphine.

<i>Papaver nudicaule</i> Species of flowering plant in the poppy family Papaveraceae

Papaver nudicaule, the Iceland poppy, is a boreal flowering plant. Native to subpolar regions of Asia and North America, and the mountains of Central Asia as well as temperate China, Iceland poppies are hardy but short-lived perennials, often grown as biennials. They yield large, papery, bowl-shaped, lightly fragrant flowers supported by hairy, 1 foot (30 cm) curved stems among feathery blue-green foliage 1–6 inches long. They were first described by botanists in 1759. The wild species blooms in white or yellow, and is hardy from USDA Zones 3a-10b.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coquelicot</span> Shade of red based on the hue of the wild corn poppy

Coquelicot is a shade of red. The term was originally a French vernacular name for the wild corn poppy, Papaver rhoeas, which is distinguished by its bright red color, and orange tint. It eventually passed into English usage as the name of a color based upon that of the flower. The first recorded use of this usage was in the year 1795.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Wilks</span> British horticulturalist and clergyman

Reverend William Wilks (1843–1923) was a notable British horticulturalist and clergyman. He served as secretary of the Royal Horticultural Society from 1888 to 1919 and as editor of its journal, he was instrumental in getting the work of Gregor Mendel translated and published in English for the first time in 1901. This translation of Mendel's 1865 paper was made by Charles Thomas Druery with the involvement of William Bateson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shirley poppy</span>

The Shirley poppy is an annual ornamental cultivar group derived from the European wild field poppy.

<i>Roemeria argemone</i> Species of flowering plant in the poppy family Papaveraceae

Roemeria argemone is a species of flowering plant in the poppy family Papaveraceae. Its common names include long pricklyhead poppy, prickly poppy and pale poppy. Its native range includes parts of Eurasia and North Africa, but it can be found growing wild in parts of North America, where it is an introduced species. It is cultivated as an ornamental plant.

<i>Papaver alpinum</i> Species of flowering plant in the poppy family Papaveraceae

Papaver alpinum, synonym Oreomecon alpina, the Alpine poppy or dwarf poppy, is a poppy found in the Alps. The circumscription of the species varies considerably. In some treatments, the species is one of a group of related species, and includes several subspecies, four of which are found in Austria. In other treatments, it includes species that have been treated as separate, and has at most one subspecies.

<i>Papaver bracteatum</i> Species of flowering plant

Papaver bracteatum, also known as the Iranian poppy or Persian poppy and the great scarlet poppy is a sturdy hardy perennial poppy with large deep red flowers up to 8 inches (20 cm) in diameter on stiff stalks up to 4 feet high with a prominent black spot near the base of the petals. It is closely related to the commonly cultivated oriental poppy, Papaver orientale and is sometimes recorded as the varietal form Papaver orientale var. bracteatum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poppy straw</span> Portion of opium poppy

Poppy straw is derived from opium poppies that are harvested when fully mature and dried by mechanical means. Opium poppy straw is what remains after the seed pods have been harvested - that is, the dried stalks, stem and leaves of poppies grown for their seeds. The field-dried leaves, stalk, and seed pod are then used in commercial manufacture of morphine or other poppy-alkaloid derived drugs, by first processing the material, separating the seeds, and then making concentrate of poppy straw where no extraction using the traditional methods of latex extraction has been made. The straw was originally considered an agricultural by-product of the mechanised poppy seed harvest, which was primarily grown for its edible and oil-producing seed. This changed in 1927 when János Kabay developed a chemical process to extract morphine from the crushed capsule. Concentrated poppy straw, consisting mainly of the crushed capsule without the seeds, soon became a valuable source of morphine. Today, concentrate of poppy straw is a major source of many opiates and other alkaloids. It is the source of 90% of the world supply of legal morphine and in some countries it also is a source of illegal morphine, which could be processed into illegal heroin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">We Shall Keep the Faith</span>

"We Shall Keep the Faith" is a poem penned by Moina Michael in November 1918. She received inspiration for this poem from "In Flanders Fields". The "poppy red" refers to Papaver rhoeas.

<i>Papaver setigerum</i> Species of flowering plant in the poppy family Papaveraceae

Papaver setigerum, common name poppy of Troy or dwarf breadseed poppy, is a herbaceous annual plant of the family Papaveraceae.

<i>Papaver glaucum</i> Species of flowering plant in the poppy family Papaveraceae

Papaver glaucum, the tulip poppy, Turkish tulip or Turkish red poppy, is a poppy found in the region of Anatolia.

<i>Papaver dubium</i> Species of flowering plant in the poppy family Papaveraceae

Papaver dubium is a species of poppy known by the common names long-headed poppy and blindeyes. It is an annual species which prefers sandy soils without lime. It is native to Europe, North Africa and south-western Asia and widespread as an introduction in America and elsewhere.

<i>Papaver heterophyllum</i> Plant species

Papaver heterophyllum, previously known as Stylomecon heterophylla, and better known as the wind poppy, is a winter annual herbaceous plant. It is endemic to the western California Floristic Province and known to grow in the area starting from the San Francisco Bay Area of Central Western California southwards to northwestern Baja California, Mexico. Its main habitat is often described as mesic and shady, with loamy soils such as soft sandy loam, clay loam, and leaf mold loam.

References

  1. Linné, Carl von (1753). Species Plantarum. Vol. 1. Stockholm: Laurentius Salvius. p. 507.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Papaver rhoeas (common poppy)". kew.org. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  3. BSBI List 2007 (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Reader's Digest Field Guide to the Wild Flowers of Britain. Reader's Digest. 1981. p. 30. ISBN   9780276002175.
  5. 1 2 3 Philips, Roger; Rix, Brian (1996). Perfect Plants. London: Macmillan. p. 298. ISBN   0333653416.
  6. Blamey, M.; Fitter, R.; Fitter, A (2003). Wild flowers of Britain and Ireland: The Complete Guide to the British and Irish Flora. London: A & C Black. ISBN   978-1408179505.
  7. 1 2 Stace, C. A. (2019). New Flora of the British Isles (Fourth ed.). Middlewood Green, Suffolk, U.K.: C & M Floristics. ISBN   978-1-5272-2630-2.
  8. Sagrati, Giorgio (2012). "Evelina, the black poppy". The black poppy Evelina. WordPress. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
  9. "Papaveraceae Papaver rhoeas L." ipni.org. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  10. "corn poppy (Common name)". cbif.gc.ca. 5 June 2013. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  11. Hicks, DM; Ouvrard, P; Baldock, KCR (2016). "Food for Pollinators: Quantifying the Nectar and Pollen Resources of Urban Flower Meadows". PLOS ONE. 11 (6): e0158117. Bibcode:2016PLoSO..1158117H. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0158117 . PMC   4920406 . PMID   27341588.
  12. 1 2 "Taxon: Papaver rhoeas L." npgsweb.ars-grin.gov. 14 November 2001. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  13. "County Flowers | Wild plants". Plantlife. Archived from the original on 2015-04-30. Retrieved 2012-03-21.
  14. "The Falangcai Poppy Bowl". Alain.R.Truong. 25 September 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  15. Evans, Annnemarie (15 November 2010). "Flanders poppy 'a symbol of heroism, not of opium'". South China Morning Post . Retrieved 11 November 2018.