Common poppy
Papaver rhoeas
Family · Papaveraceae · Irritating
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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.
Fields and pasture · Roadsides and waste ground · Town and roadside
Also known ascorn poppy, Flanders poppy
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.
Where it occurs
Each square is an area with recorded observations of this plant. The lighter background is the set of areas where any of the entries has been observed, and serves as a reference. Note what this is not: it is not where the plant lives, it is where people record it, so trails and towns always look fuller than the mountains. Data from GBIF.
Sources
Community
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