PAPAVER 



PAPAVEE (old Latin name of dubious derivation). 

 Papaveracece. POPPY. Poppies rank among the most 

 popular annual flowers in cultivation. From their as- 

 tonishing range of color, and 

 from the formidable list of 

 names given below, one might 

 suppose their botany very 

 complicated. It is, however, 

 easy to understand. There 

 are only 4 species commonly 

 cultivated and these are all 

 remarkably distinct. They 

 are (1) the Opium Poppy, (2) 

 the Corn Poppy, (3) the 

 Iceland Poppy and (4) 

 the Oriental Poppy. 



1. The Opium Poppy, 

 P. somniferum, one of 

 the commonest and the 



PAPAVER 



1205 



most variable. It is an an- 

 nual, of tall, stately habit, 

 and recognized at once by 

 the glaucous hue of its foli- 

 age. The flowers are the 

 largest of any of the annual 

 species, but unfortunately 

 they are useless as cut-flow- 

 ers because they drop their 

 petals. 



2. The Corn Poppy of 

 Europe, P. Hhceas, is also 



an annual, but a dwarf er plant, with green, hairy, finely 

 cut foliage and smaller flowers. This is the delight of 

 every American that visits Europe. The Shirley Pop- 

 pies are the best strain of this species ; in our gardens 

 the flowers last longer than the common Poppies 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 a perennial, it is short-lived and is 

 commonly treated as an annual. 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 selected 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 ad- 

 vantage 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. brac- 

 teatum. The latter may be only a botanical variety; it 

 differs in having large bracts below the flower. 



The other species are for the fancier. The Alpine 

 Poppy, P. alpinum, was considered by Linnaeus to 

 be a distinct species from the Iceland Poppy. How- 

 ever, every gradation has been discovered between the 

 typical form of P. nudicaule of the arctic regions and 

 the common Poppy found in the Alps. The former has 

 a yellow flower, while the common Alpine Poppy is 

 white. Botanically, the Poppy of the Alps is generally 

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



acterized by a dwarf er habit and more finely divided 

 foliage. For horticultural purposes P. nudicaule and 

 (ilpinum should be considered to be distinct species. 

 The Iceland 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. Botli 

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

 needs better drainage. The form of P. alpinum which 

 has white petals with a green spot at the base may be 

 considered the typical one. This is shown in color in 

 Gn. 24:410, and also in Correvon's pocket guide to 'the 

 wild flowers of the Alps, entitled Flore Coloriee etc 

 Correvon states that the yellow-fid, form (var flaviflo- 

 rum) is found in the granitic Alps, the inference being 

 that the white-fid, form is characteristic of the calca- 

 reous Alps. An orange-red Poppy is also found in the 

 Alps and on the continent is often called P. Pyrenai- 

 cum. The tendency in England is to make it a variety 

 of P. nudicaule. Whether all these plants are species 

 or varieties and how they should be named are matters 

 of opinion. The range of color has been indicated 

 above. Aside from color, the important points on which 

 these varieties are made and unmade are as follows : the 

 degree of hairiness of stem and capsule; whether the 

 hairs are appressed or spreading; the manner in which 

 the foliage is cut, and the shape of the capsule, which 

 varies from short, thick and subglobose to long, nar- 

 row and club-shaped. 



Papaver is a genus of about 50 species, mostly natives 

 of the Mediterranean region. There is, however, one in 

 South Africa and another in Australia. Also a true 

 Papaver has been discovered in California, and has 

 been named P. Californicum. (The "California Poppy" 

 of gardens is Eschscholzia.) Papa- 

 vers are herbs with a milky juice, 

 bristly or smooth and often glau- 

 cous : Ivs. usually lobed or dissected : 

 peduncles long: buds nodding: fls. 

 every shade of red, violet, yellow 

 and white; sepals 2; petals 4; sta- 

 mens numerous; stigmatic lobes 4 

 many: capsule globose, obovate or 

 top-shaped, dehiscing under the ver- 

 tex by transverse pores between the 

 placentas; openings very small and 

 valve-like. 



Opium is made from the milky 

 juice of P. somni- 

 ferum, which oozes 

 from shallow cuts 

 made in the young 

 capsules. The 

 seeds have no nar- 

 cotic properties and 

 are sold for bird 

 food under the name 

 of " ma w seed." 

 They also produce 

 a valuable oil. 



Five flowers from 

 Hortus Eystet- 

 tensis, (redrawn 

 and reduced, in- 

 dicating the an- 

 tiquity of some 

 of the main 

 types that are 

 popular today. 

 P. somniferum. 



nial plants are 



rare and inter- 



esting. "At the 



hybrid confer- 



ence at Chis- 



wick in July 



last, the late M. Henri Vilmorin, of 



Paris, gave a very interesting account 



of a successful attempt at hybridizing 



the Opium Poppy(P. somniferum)with 



P. orientale or P. bracteatum, the 



