2456 



PAPAVER 



PAPAVER 



cut foliage and smaller flowers. It is brilliant in the 

 fields of Europe, and it has run wild in this country. 

 The Shirley poppies are the best strain of this species; 

 in gardens the flowers last longer than the common P. 

 Rhaeas and the plants are neater when out of bloom. 



3. The Iceland poppy, P. nudicaule, is the glory of 

 the arctic regions. It ranges over an immense territory 

 and varies remarkably both in the wild and the garden. 

 Orange, red, and white are the chief colors, besides 

 shades of yellow, but the flowers never attain the 

 brilliant scarlet of the corn poppy. Although the 

 Iceland poppy is perennial, it is short-lived, and is 

 commonly treated as an annual or as a short-lived per- 

 ennial. It is known for the satiny texture and crimpled 

 character of its petals. The flowers are excellent for 

 cutting, especially if the young flowers are chosen and 

 cut in the early morning, a principle which applies to 

 many flowers often supposed to be useless for home 

 decoration. 



4. The oriental poppy, P. orientale, is a longer-lived 

 perennial, and although it has the largest flowers of 

 any species in the genus it has nothing like the fame 

 of the opium poppy. However, it has the double advan- 

 tage of being easily propagated by either seed or 

 division, and it has a considerable range of color, which 

 is said to be largely due to crosses with P. bracteatum. 

 The latter differs in having large bracts below the flower. 



The other species of poppy are for the fancier. The 

 alpine poppy, P. alpinum, was considered by Linnaeus 

 to be a distinct species from the Iceland poppy. How- 

 ever, gradations occur between the typical form of P. 

 nudicaule of the arctic regions and the poppy found in 

 the Alps. The former has a yellow flower, while the 

 common alpine poppy is white. The alpine poppy is by 

 some regarded as an extreme form of P. nudicaule, char- 

 acterized by a dwarfer habit and more finely divided 

 foliage. For horticultural purposes P. nudicaule and P. 

 alpinum should be considered to be distinct species, as 

 many botanists indeed consider them to be. The Ice- 

 land poppy can be easily grown in the border, while the 

 alpine poppy demands rock-garden treatment. The 

 former does best in a moderately rich and light loam, 

 while the latter does better in a rather poor soil. Both 

 need full exposure to the sun, and P. alpinum probably 

 needs better drainage. See No. 20, p. 2459. 



The Shirley poppies are now the prevailing forms of 

 P. Rhceas. The following history of the remarkable 

 race is given by the Rev. W. Wilks in "The Garden," 

 57, page 385: "In 1880 I noticed in a waste corner of 

 my garden abutting on the fields a patch of the com- 

 mon wild field poppy (Papaver Rhaeas), one solitary 

 flower of which had a very narrow edge of white. This 

 one flower I marked and saved the seed of it alone. 

 Next year, out of perhaps two hundred plants I had 

 four or five on which all the flowers were edged. The 

 best of these were marked and the seed saved, and so 

 for several years, the flowers all the while getting a 

 larger infusion of white to tone down the red until they 

 arrived at quite pale pink and one plant absolutely pure 

 white. I then set myself to change the black central 

 portions of the flowers from black to yellow or white, 

 and having at last fixed a strain with petals varying in 

 color from the brightest scarlet to pure white, with all 

 shades of pink between and all varieties of flakes and 

 edged flowers also, but all having yellow or white 

 stamens, anthers and pollen, and a white base." . . . 

 Mr. Wilks then distributed it freely to all. "My ideal," 

 he continues, "is to get a yellow P. Rhceas, and I have 

 already obtained many distinct shades of salmon. The 

 Shirley poppies have thus been obtained simply by 

 selection and elimination. . . . Let it be noticed that 

 true Shirley poppies (1) are single, (2) always have a 

 white base with (3) yellow or white stamens, anthers 

 and pollen, (4) never have the smallest particle of black 

 about them. Trouble poppies and poppies with black 

 centers may be greatly admired by some, but they 



are not Shirley poppies. It is rather interesting to 

 reflect that the gardens of the whole world rich man's 

 and poor man's alike are today furnished with pop- 

 pies which are the direct descendants of. one single 

 capsule of seed raised in the garden of the Shirley 

 Vicarage so lately as August, 1880." 



Hybrids between different species of Papaver are 

 described in the monographs, but they do not appear to 

 have given leading forms for cultivation. Hybrids 

 have been produced between the annual and perennial 

 species. Between the different garden varieties, cross- 

 ing probably goes on continuously, and new strains are 

 constantly arising. 



For garden purposes most poppies are to be treated 

 as annuals for best results, with the exception of P. 

 orientale and P. bracteatum, which the gardener thinks 

 of as one group. The oriental poppy is, in fact, the only 

 common long-lived perennial poppy. The Iceland poppy 

 may live for several years, but after the third year it 

 usually degenerates. It blooms the first year from seed 

 and the best results are usually secured the second year. 

 The cultivation of poppies is very simple, except of 

 course in the case of alpine species, for which special 

 conditions must be provided. Seeds usually germinate 

 readily, but as the young plants of the annual kinds do 

 not transplant well, the seeds should be sown where the 

 plants are to remain. In the Shirley and similar pop- 

 pies, the plants may be thinned to stand 4 to 6 inches 

 apart. For especially large and fine blooms, the plants 

 should be given at least twice more room. A succession 

 in sowings will provide a greatly extended season of 

 bloom; removing the seed-pods will also extend the 

 blooming-time. Open warm soil in a sunny exposure is 

 preferred for poppies. 



INDEX. 



A. Plant prickly: caps, glabrous. 



1. aculeatum, Thunb. (P. gariepinum, Burch. P. 

 horridum, DC.). Annual, 1-4 ft. high, the st. nearly 

 simple: st. branched, densely covered with spreading, 

 rigid, unequal bristles: Ivs. green, sinuately pinnatifid, 

 the laciniations spine-tipped: fls. scarcely 2 in. across; 

 petals scarlet-orange, unspotted: caps, glabrous, 

 oblong-obovate. S. Afr., Austral. B.M. 3623. The 

 only poppy known to inhabit the southern hemisphere. 

 Annual in S. Afr., but said to be biennial in northern 

 botanic gardens. 



AA. Plant pilose or setulose (not prickly}, sometimes 



glabrous. 



B. Species usually annual or biennial (Nos. 1-12). 

 C. Herbage setulose (or perhaps glabrous in No. 2 and in 

 forms of No. 4) green or glaucous: foliage always 

 incised or pinnatifid, the st.-lvs. not clasping. 



D. St. elongated and leafy. 



E. Caps, usually glabrous. 



F. Shape of caps, club-shaped to top-shaped. 



2. calif6rnicum, Gray. Annual, sparsely pilose-pubes- 

 cent to glabrous, 1-2 ft. high: Ivs. pinnately parted or 



