COMMON Rl'.I) I'OIM'V 95 



Common Red Poppy (I'.iii.ult Rlnuas, L.) 



Unlike the C)i)iuiii I'opi)) ;iik1 Lono; Kuui^h-hcudcd Po|)py, both 

 of which appear in Neolithic beds (when they were cultivated), this 

 species is not found so early. 



It is found in Europe, N. Africa, W. Asia as far as India. Ii is 

 tuLind in 106 \'icc'-counlics ot (inal liriiain. Inil not in Cartlii^an, 

 Mill L.mcs, Ciimlicrland, I )unitiics, KirkcLulhriL^hi, .Siirliu!,;, or T'l^in. 

 It is rare north ot the Tax-; aiul occurs in Irehuul ami the (lianiicl 

 Islands. Watson calls it a colonisi. 



The Common Red I'oppy which rcdtlcns, as ihonL;h with Mood- 

 drops, the golden grain in aiiuinin, is a wiilcK- distrihulcil pl.uu which 

 has followed the plough, and comes up in cxc'ry cornfuKl. and along 

 the railway-bank, where weeds are liable to accumulate, being blow 11 

 out of passing trucks or caught as by a l)arrier l)y the line of rail, and 

 in all waste places, and by roadsitles. Where we find Shepherd's 

 Purse and the Golden Charlock, there also we shall find the Red 

 Poppy. 



This elegant plant, whose llowers are .so fugacious or shortlived 

 (hence Rhoeas) and tend to tumble so soon, is an erect ])lant, with 

 divided leaves, with man)' branches, which spread out in a nearly erect 

 manner. The leaves arc deeply notched and deeply divided (1-2). 



The whole plant is thus pyramidal from below upwards. It grows 

 in clusters amid the corn, or more ihlckh' when it is more t-rect and 

 less spreading, by the wa\side. 



The flower is scarlet with a black spot at the base, and in bud 

 the flowers hang down but are erect afterwards. 



The capsule or fruit is smooth and rounded, and the flower-stalk 

 has spreading hairs. The filaments are awl-shaped, numerous, and 

 there is no style. The stigma is convex, with the lobes overlapping. 



In height this poppy reaches 2 ft., flowering from June to [uly. 

 It is an annual, the seeds falling out b\- the opening of pores in the 

 capsule beneath the stigma. 



The sepals fall off as the flower e.xpands. The flower has 4 petals, 

 and many stamens closely surround the stigma and ripen before the 

 flower opens, and are covered with pollen. This covers the lobes of 

 the stigma which radiate from the centre of a circular disk on the to[) 

 of the pistil, but the higher parts protrude, so that they are free from 

 pollen. There is no honey, but in.sects alight on the broad stigma 

 for pollen, and if another flower has been visited already cross-pollina- 



