88 ENGLISH BOTANY. 
ments terminating in a bristle. Peduncles long, terminal, covered 
with spreading (or in var. 6 adpressed) stiff hairs. Sepals with 
hairs similar to those of the peduncles. Flowers 3 to 4 inches 
across. Petals bright scarlet, often having a dark purple spot at 
the base, the outer pair nearly twice as broad as long. Anthers 
nearly black. Capsule quite smooth, from } to 3 inch long. Whole 
plant slightly glaucous, hairy. Hairs on the leaves shorter and 
less stiff than those on the stem. 
Common Red Poppy, Corn Poppy, Corn Rose, Red Weed. 
In Scotland: Head Wark, Red Mailkes. 
French, Pawot, Coquelicot. German, Klatschmohn and Klapperrose. 
The specific name is said to be derived from fova (rhowa), pomegranate, which the 
capsule resembles; or from pew (reo), I fall or flow, in allusion to its perishable flowers ; 
or from the fact that when bruised or pressed a red juice exudes from the petals. This 
species of Poppy is considered narcotic, though its properties must be slight. From the 
petals a syrup is made, which is extensively used for colouring medicines. Oil of Poppies 
has been drawn from the seeds. Gerarde records that in his day it was considered 
pleasant, and “delightful to be eaten.” From the bright-coloured petals of this plant an 
ingenious little insect, the Drapery Bee (Megachile papaveris), chooses the hangings of her 
apartment. She dexterously cuts out the petals of the half-expanded flowers, strengthens 
the folds, and fits them for her purpose, overhanging the walls of her cell with this 
splendid tapestry, in which, when complete, she deposits her honey. In classic lore 
the Corn Poppy has long been held sacred to Ceres; as it is, however, by no means a 
welcome guest in the fields dedicated to her service, we may regard it rather as a sacri- 
fice required by her from her worshippers, than as an offering to be encouraged, 
excepting in the sense that the eradication of weeds, of whatever kind, found intruding 
in the crops, and detracting from their value, must be a labour worthy of all true 
disciples of the agricultural goddess. 
SPECIES III—PAPAVER DUBIUM. Linn. 
Pruates LIX. LX. 
Leayes pinnatifid, none of them amplexicaul. Outer pair of petals 
a little broader than long, inner pair with the length and breadth 
about equal. Filaments not dilated towards the tip, shorter than 
the pistil. Capsule smooth, at least twice as long as broad, cylin- 
drical-clavate, attenuate towards the base, and scarcely stipitate. 
Stigmatic disk convex-conical, slightly crenately lobed, the lobes 
not overlapping each other; stigmatic rays 4 to 12, slender, net 
extending quite to the apices of the lobes. 
