Common poppy

Papaver rhoeas

Family · Papaveraceae · Irritating

Traditional use

The red that sets cereal fields alight in April and May. Each flower lasts a day or two, which is why a poppy field is never the same on two consecutive days.

Where it grows

Fields and pasture · Roadsides and waste ground · Town and roadside

Also known as

corn poppy, Flanders poppy

In flower

How to tell it

Four bright red papery petals, often with a black basal blotch. A stem covered in bristly hairs. The bud hangs before opening and straightens the day before.

What it is confused with

No dangerous lookalikes known in the Iberian Peninsula.

What it is for

The petals make syrup and dye, and the young leaves are eaten cooked in Spain and Italy. A note that stays on the sheet: it is not the opium poppy, but it does contain mild alkaloids and is not a plant for free home infusions.

With documented traditional uses. Not a therapeutic indication and not a dose.

Sources

Flora-On