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POPPY

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Originally appearing in Volume V22, Page 91 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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POPPY , in See also:

botany, a genus of See also:plants known botanically as pa paver, the type of the See also:family or natural See also:order Papaveraceae. They are See also:annual and perennial erect herbs containing a milky juice, with lobed or cut leaves and generally See also:long-stalked See also:regular showy See also:flowers, which are nodding in the bud See also:stage. The sepals, very rarely three, which are two in number, fall off as the See also:flower opens, the four (very rarely five or six) petals, which are crumpled in the bud stage, also fall readily. The numerous stamens surround the ovary, which is composed of 4 to 16 carpelsand is surmounted by a See also:flat or See also:convex rayed disk bearing the stigmas. The ovary is incompletely divided into many See also:chambers by the ingrowth of the placentas which See also:bear numerous ovules and See also:form in the See also:fruit a many-seeded See also:short See also:capsule opening by small valves below the upper edge. The valves are hydroscopic, responding to increase in the amount of moisture in the See also:atmosphere by closing the apertures. In dry See also:weather the valves open, and the small seeds are ejected through the pores when the capsule is shaken by the See also:wind on its long stiff slender stalk: The flowers contain no See also:honey and are visited by See also:pollen-seeking See also:insects, which alight on the broad stigmatic See also:surface. The genus contains about 40 See also:species, mostly natives of central and See also:south See also:Europe and temperate See also:Asia. Five species are See also:British; P. Rhoeas is the See also:common See also:scarlet poppy found in cornfields and See also:waste places. Cultivated forms of this, with exquisite shades of See also:colour and without any blotch at the See also:base of the petals, are known as See also:Shirley poppies. P. somniferum, the See also:opium poppy, with large See also:white or See also:blue-See also:purple flowers, is widely cultivated (see OPIUM).

The See also:

Oriental poppy (P. orientate) and its several varieties are See also:fine See also:garden plants, having huge See also:bright See also:crimson flowers with See also:black blotches at the base. Many hybrid forms of varying shades of colour have been raised of See also:late years. The See also:Iceland poppy (P. undicaule), is one of the showiest species, having See also:grey-See also:green pinnate leaves and flowers varying in colour from pure white to deep See also:orange-yellow, orange-scarlet, &c. Specially fine varieties with stalks 18—24 in. high are cultivated on a large See also:scale by some growers for See also:market. The Welsh poppy belongs to an allied genus, Meconopsis; it is a perennial See also:herb with a yellow juice and See also:pale yellow poppy-like flowers. It is native in the south-See also:west and See also:north of See also:England, and in See also:Wales; also in See also:Ireland. The prickly poppy (Argemone grandiflora) is a fine Mexican perennial with large white flowers. To the same family belongs the horned poppy, Glaucium luteum, found in sandy See also:sea-shores and characterized by the waxy See also:bloom of its leaves and large See also:golden-yellow short-stalked flowers. Another member of the family is Eschscholtzia californica, a native of western North See also:America, and well-known in gardens, with orange-coloured flowers and a long two-valved fruit pod. The plume poppy (Bocconia cordate and B. microcarpa) are ornamental foliage plants of See also:great beauty. The See also:cyclamen poppy (Eomecon chionantha) is a See also:pretty See also:Chinese perennial, having roundish slightly lobed leaves and pure white flowers about 2 in. across. The See also:tree poppy (Dendromecon rigidum) is a Californian See also:shrub about 3 ft. high, having golden-yellow flowers about 2 in. across.

The Californian poppy (Platystemon californicus) is a pretty annual about a See also:

foot high, having yellow flowers with 3 sepals and 6 petals; and the white See also:bush poppy (Romneya Coulteri) is a very attractive perennial and semi-shrubby plant 2—8 ft. high, with pinnatifid leaves and large sweet scented white flowers often 6 in. across.

End of Article: POPPY

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