11 
CULTURE OF THE GENUS PAPAVER. 
All the species of this genus are showy plants, many of them very splendid 
in the size and colour of the flowers, but the blossoms are very fugitive. On the 
whole they are great ornaments to the flower-borders, and deserve to be cultivated 
in every garden. 
They are of three kinds, annual, biennial, and perennial ; being all very hardy, 
they are easy of culture, and require very little attention. 
Amongst the annual species and 
varieties several are natives of Britain, 
as P. Rhwas, which is common in corn- 
fields, some of the varieties of which are 
great ornaments onour borders, and P, 
so77miferum (figure) from which the sub- 
stance called opium is extracted. The 
flowers of this species are v/hite with a 
faint blush, but there are many varieties, 
some of bright scarlet, others purple, and 
others striped and variegated. 
White Poppy (^Papaver somnifermn) ; 
a, the seed organ, showing the stamens 
attached to the receptacle ; b, the fruit. 
The seeds are know'n by the name of maiv seeds\ because of the use made of 
them by bird fanciers. 
"P. somtiiferiim is originally a native of the warmer parts of Asia, but is some- 
times found apparently wild in Britain." 
" Many attempts have been made in this country to obtain opium from its cap- 
sules, and Mr. Ball obtained a premium from the Society of Arts for specimens of 
British opium, in no respect inferior to the best eastern opium." 
" Mr. Young, a respectable surgeon in Edinburgh, has also obtained it of 
excellent quality and in considerable quantity." 
" It was very early cultivated in Greece, perhaps, at first, solely for the sake of 
its seed, which was used for food. It is extensively cultivated in most of the states 
of Europe in the present age, not only on account of the opium for which it is 
reared in Turkey, Persia, and India, but also on account of the capsules, and of the 
oil obtained from the seeds." 
