COMMON GARDEN FLOWERS. 



103 



though they are, yet they are extremely gay while 

 the blossoms endure. This is Papaver RJmas, the 

 Field Popi^y, and its English names are the (Jom- 

 mon Red Poppy, Corn Rose, and Cup Rose. It is 

 a common British 

 plant, is of annual 

 duration, and blooms 

 abundantly in June 

 and July. Then there 

 is the Garden, or 

 Opium, or W^hite 

 Poppy, F. somni- 

 fertini, and this is not 

 only regarded as the 

 ty^e, but the most 

 important plant of 

 the family. It is 

 found in a wild state 

 throughout the whole 

 of Europe, in Egypt, 

 and in Asia; and, 

 though frequcntlj" 

 met with apparently 

 wild in Britain, it is 

 generally believed to 

 have been introduced 

 at some early period, 

 probably from some 

 part of Asia. It is a 

 plant of great value 

 in medicine : Poppy- 

 heads are the dried 

 seed-vessels or cap- 

 sules of this plant. 

 It is in the capsules 

 that the juice most 

 abounds, and this 

 juice, which exudes 

 after incision, be- 

 comes dry and hard, 

 and is then known 

 by the name of 

 Opium. The Poppy 

 is extensively culti- 

 vated in the Asiatic 

 provinces of Turkey, 

 Egypt, Persia, and 

 India. " The plants 

 during their growth 



are carefully w^atered and manured, the watering 

 being more liberal as the period of flowering ap- 

 proaches, and until the capsules are half-grown, 

 when it is discontinued, and the gathering of the 

 opium commences. The m.anner in which opium is 

 obtained is still the same as that practised in the 

 East centuries before the time of our Saviour. A 



Papaver orientale. 



few days after the fall of the flower, men and women 

 proceed to the fields at sunset, and make horizontal 

 incisions in the Poppy-heads or capsules, taking 

 care not to cut so doci) as to penetrate their cavity. 



A white juice exudes, 

 and appears in the 

 form of tears on the 

 ( ■dgcs of the incisions, 

 and the night dews 

 favour the exudation 

 of the juice. The 

 field is left in this 

 state for twenty-four 

 hours, after which 

 the juice is scraped 

 oflt with a small iron 

 scoop or blunt knives. 

 A portion of the skin 

 of the capsule is also 

 removed, and con- 

 stitutes about . one- 

 twelfth of the whole 

 product. This opera- 

 tion is never per- 

 formed more than 

 once on each head. 

 After it is gathered 

 the opium is put into 

 small earthen vessels, 

 and moistened with 

 saliva, then worked 

 with a wooden spa- 

 tule, in the sun, till 

 it attains a proper 

 consistency. It is 

 then formed into 

 cakes, and wrapped 

 in leaves of Tobacco 

 or Poppy, and sent 

 into the market." 

 (Hogg's Vegetable 

 Kingdom.) The cul- 

 tiu-e of this medicinal 

 Poppy is carried on 

 to some extent in this 

 country. The fine 

 double Poppies seen 

 in gardens are se- 

 lected varieties of 

 P. somniferiim. The Carnation and Peony-flowered 

 Poppies are forms of these. What is found in 

 some seed lists as Papaver Danehrog is a small 

 variety of P. somniferum., bearing scarlet flowers 

 having a white spot on each petal. The Ranim- 

 culus or Marseilles Poppies are known as French 

 varieties, and have been bred up, in all probability, 



