Poppy | Description, Major Species, Uses, & Facts (2024)

poppy, any of several flowering plants of the poppy family (Papaveraceae), especially species of the genus Papaver. Most poppies are found in the Northern Hemisphere, and several species of poppies are cultivated as garden ornamentals.

Physical description

Poppies have lobed or dissected leaves and milky sap. The buds are often nodding and are borne on solitary stalks. The flowers have four to six petals with numerous stamens surrounding the ovary. The two sepals usually drop off as the petals unfold. The ovary develops into a spherical capsule topped by a disk formed by the stigmas. The many small seeds escape from pores beneath the disk when the capsule is shaken by the wind.

Major Papaver species

Opium, from which morphine, heroin, codeine, and papaverine are derived, comes from the milky latex in the unripe seed capsule of the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum), which is native to Turkey. An annual plant, it bears 13-cm- (5-inch-) wide purple flowers on plants 1 to 1.5 metres (about 3 to 5 feet) tall, with lobed or toothed silver-green foliage. The opium poppy is also grown for its nonnarcotic ripe seeds, which are used for seasoning, for oil, and in baked goods (see poppy seed). White-, pink-, and red-flowered strains with double or semidouble blooms have been developed as garden ornamentals.

About 50 other species of Papaver are grown for their attractive flowers and interestingly cut foliage. The Oriental poppy (P. orientale), native to the Middle East, has 15-cm (6-inch) scarlet, salmon, pink, white, or red blooms on 1.2-metre- (4-foot-) tall long-lived perennial plants. The white-and-red or white-and-pink Shirley poppy is an annual variety developed from the corn poppy (P. rhoeas). The long-headed poppy (P. dubium) is an annual similar to the corn poppy but with narrower, tapering capsules and smaller, paler flowers. The Iceland poppy (P. nudicaule), from Arctic North America, is a short-lived perennial 30 cm (12 inches) tall with fragrant white, orange, reddish, or bicoloured 8-cm (3-inch) flowers. The peaco*ck poppy (P. pavoninum)—with scarlet petals bearing a dark spot at the base in 2.5-cm (1-inch) blooms on 30-cm- (12-inch-) tall plants—is an annual from Central Asia.

Other poppies

The poppy family is well represented in western North America, with at least 13 genera. California is particularly rich in native species. The best known of these is the California poppy (Eschscholzia californica), an annual with brilliant orange-coloured flowers that is extensively naturalized in California, Australia, and India.

Other ornamental members of the poppy family include the Matilija poppy (Romneya coulteri), with 15-cm (6-inch) fragrant white flowers on a 2.4-metre- (7.9-foot-) tall perennial herbaceous plant native to southwestern North America; the plume poppies, members of the Asian genus Macleaya, grown for their interestingly lobed giant leaves and 2-metre- (6.6-foot-) tall flower spikes; plants of the genus Bocconia, mild-climate woody shrubs native to tropical America, prized for their large cut leaves; the snow poppy (Eomecon chionantha), a perennial from China, with white cuplike flowers in sprays; and the flaming poppy (Stylomecon heterophylla), with purple-centred brick-red flowers on an annual plant from western North America. The genus Meconopsis includes the Welsh poppy.