cfO [ 2145 ]
POLYANDRIA Monogynia.
G en. Char. Cal. two-leaved. Petals four. Stigma
radiated. Caps, superior, discharging its seeds by
pores under the permanent stigma.
Spec. Char. Calyx and capsules smooth. Leaves
clasping the stem, glaucous, cut.
Syn. Papaver somniferum. Linn. Sp. PI. 726. Sm.
FI. Brit. 5 68. Huds. 231. With. 487. Hull,
ed. 2. 158. Relh. 2 0 7 . Sibth. 166. Woodv.
Med. Bot. t. 185.
P. sylvestre. Rail Syn. 3 0 8 .
I t has been a generally received opinion that this, the origin
of the fine garden poppies, was not truly wild in Britain. We
have nevertheless been convinced of the contrary, by repeated
information from the low parts of Norfolk and Cambridgeshire,
where it is found on the banks of all the fen ditches, if the
soil be sandy, (as the late Rev. Mr. White of Hockwold first
informed us,) in a truly wild condition. It also grows, always
in newly-trenched ground, by road-sides, &c., about
Delvine bouse near Coupar, Angusshire, from whence Mr.
Sowerby, by favour of Miss Watson, received the present
specimen.
This species is cultivated for the sake of its half-ripe capsules,
which in infusion prove a gentle opiate. In warmer
countries it yields opium. The root is annual, tapering. Whole
plant glaucous and generally smooth, though sometimes the
upper part of the stem (which is branched, leafy and 3 or 4
feet high,) bears a few rigid spreading hairs. The leaves are
simple, oval or roundish, obtuse, variously cut, embracing the
stem. Flowers terminal, drooping in the bud, then erect,
short-lived, large, white or purplish, often having a deep violet
spot on each petal. Capsule globose. Stigma of many
deflexed rays. The seeds are oily, sweet, and not narcotic.
It flowers about July.