4 Flower Colour and Characters of the Opium Poppy 



references to previous work is given. Since that date no extensive 

 work appears to have been undertaken, and the plant to which reference 

 is made throughout is the P. somniferum L. of the garden, or of the 

 Continental poppy field where cultivation is undertaken for seed. 



The Indian Opium Poppy differs in certain respects from the above. 

 The season in which it develops is a short one and it has so far been 

 found impossible to synchronise the flowering period of the imported 

 races with those of the Indian. On the true Indian races practically no 

 work has been done since Scott ^ in 1877, described those recognised by 

 the cultivator.' The plant was selected by the Howards and Abdur 

 Rahman^ for the purpose of gaining some information as to the extent 

 to which cross-fertilisation occurred in the commoner Indian crops, but 

 no attempt was made to identify the factors concerned. 



The Petal Colours of the Opium Poppy. 



As has been stated, the poppy of the main opium producing tracts 

 of the United Provinces is white flowered. Stray plants with red 

 petals occur and also a form with the petal sepaloid (called small petal, s, 

 in this paper). The majority of the coloured forms are derived from 

 the poppy grown in Malwa and the range of colour in these is con- 

 siderable^. In spite of this apparent complexity, however, the series 

 may be arranged in five groups, which are determined by the several 

 combinations of the following four factors : 



P, a factor which develops a pink marginal colour in the petal 

 leaving the eye colourless. In the pure form the colour is strongly de- 

 veloped (PI. I, fig. 1), while in the form impure for this factor the colour 

 is light but distinct {LP), or so pale ( VL) that a minute examination is 

 required to avoid confusion with the white ( W). Typically the colour 

 is pure pink, but in certain cases it may appear distinctly crimson by 

 transmitted light. 



R, an intensifier of P. In the absence of the latter the presence of 

 R cannot be determined but, in conjunction with P in the pure form, 

 it develops a form (RP) with a scarlet or crimson marginal colour which 

 is separated from the white eye by a blue or purple band (PL I, fig. 3). 



1 J. Scott, Manual of Opium husbandry, 1877. 



2 Memoirs Dept. of Agr. in India, Bot. Series, iii. 10, .S21. 



^ Several extra-Indian forms have been grown in addition. These include the true 

 Turkish form, seed of which was kindly supplied by Mr L. Sutton. These forms are not 

 dealt with in the present paper. 



