PETALA RHCEADOS. 39 



PAPAVERACE^. 



PETALA RHCEADOS. 



Flores Rkceados; Med Poppy Petals; F. Fleurs de Coquelicot ; G. 



Klatschrosen. 



Botanical Origin — Papaver Rhceas L. — The common Red Poppy or 

 Corn Rose is an annual herb found in fields throughout the greater 

 part of Europe often in extreme abundance. It almost always occurs 

 as an accompaniment of cereal crops, frequently disappearing when 

 this cultivation is given up. It is plentiful in England and Ireland, 

 but less so in Scotland ; is found abundantly in Central and Southern 

 Europe and in Asia Minor, whence it extends as far as Abyssinia, 

 Palestine, and the banks of the Euphrates. But it does not occur in 

 India or in North America. 



From the evidence adduced by De Candolle^ it would appear that 

 the plant is strictly indigenous to Sicily, Greece, Dalmatia, and possibly 

 the Caucasus. 



History — Papaver Rhoeas was known to the ancients, though doubt- 

 less it was often confounded with P. dubium L. the flowers of which are 

 rather smaller and paler. The petals were used in pharmacy in Germany 

 in the loth centur3\'^ 



Description — The branches of the stem are upright, each terminat- 

 ing in a conspicuous long-stalked flower, from which as it opens the 

 two sepals fall off*. The delicate scarlet petals are four in number, 

 transversely elliptical and attached below the ovary by veiy short, dark- 

 violet claws. As they are broader than long, their edges overlap in the 

 expanded flower. In the bud they are irregularly crumpled, but when 

 unfolded are smooth, lustrous, and unctuous to the touch. They fall off" 

 very quickly, shrink up in drying, and assume a brownish-violet tint 

 even when dried with the utmost care. Although they do not contain 

 a milky juice like the green parts of the plant, they have while fresh a 

 strong narcotic odour and a faintly bitter taste. 



Chemical Composition — The most important constituent of the 

 petals is the colouring matter, still but very imperfectly known. 

 According to L. Meier (1846) it consists of two acids, neither of which 

 could be obtained other than in an amorphous state. The colouring 

 matter is abundantly taken up by water or spirit of wine but not by 

 ether. The aqueous infusion is not precipitated by alum, but yields a 

 dingy violet precipitate with acetate of lead, and is coloured blackish- 

 brown by ferric salts or by alkalis. 



The alkaloids of opium cannot be detected in the petals. Attfield 

 in particular has examined the latter (1873) for morphine but without 

 obtaining a trace of that body. 



1 Geogr. hotanique, ii. (1855) 649. Nordlingen. See Fliickiger, in the Arehiv 



2 Flores Papaveris rubri— in the list of der Pharvi. 211 (1877) 97, No. 62. 

 the pharmaceutical shop of the town of 



