this: the plant

A poppy is any of a number of showy flowers, typically with one per stem, belonging to the poppy family. They include a number of attractive wildflower species with showy flowers found growing singularly or in large groups; many species are also grown in gardens. Those that are grown in gardens include large plants used in a mixed herbaceous border and small plants that are grown in rock or alpine gardens.

The flower color of poppy species include: white, pink, yellow, orange, red and blue; some have dark center markings. The species that have been cultivated for many years also include many other colors ranging from dark solid colors to soft pastel shades. The center of the flower has a whorl of stamens surrounded by a cup- or bowl-shaped collection of four to six petals. Prior to blooming, the petals are crumpled in bud, and as blooming finishes, the petals often lie flat before falling away.

Poppies may be found in the genera:

• Meconopsis – Himalayan poppy, Welsh poppy and relatives.
• Papaver – Iceland poppy, Oriental poppy, Opium poppy, corn poppy and about 120 other species.
• Romneya – Matilija poppy and relatives.
• Eschscholzia – California poppy and relatives.
• Stylophorum – Celandine-poppy, mock poppy, yellow-poppy, wood-poppy.
• Argemone – Prickly-poppy
• Canbya – Pygmy-poppy
• Stylomecon – Wind-poppy
• Arctomecon – Desert bearclaw-poppy
• Hunnemannia – Tulip poppy
• Dendromecon – Tree poppy

The pollen of the oriental poppy, Papaver orientale, is dark blue. The pollen of the field poppy or corn poppy (Papaver rhoeas) is dark blue to grey. Bees will use poppies as a pollen source.

The opium poppy, Papaver somniferum, is grown for opium, opiates or seeds to be used in cooking and baking, eg. poppy seed rolls.

Symbolism

Poppies have long been used as a symbol of both sleep and death: sleep because of the opium extracted from them, and death because of their (commonly) blood-red color. In Greco-Roman myths, poppies were used as offerings to the dead.L. Frank Baum, Michael Patrick Hearn, The Annotated Wizard of Oz, p 173, ISBN 0-517-500868 Poppies are used as emblems on tombstones to symbolize eternal sleep. This aspect was used, fictionally, in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz to create magical poppy fields, dangerous because they caused those who passed through them to sleep forever.