Opium Poppy - Papaver somniferum

Description

Medium to tall, erect plant. Leaves greyish green, oblong, but lobed and undulate, the upper clasping the stem. Flowers large, 8 to 18 cm purple, pale lilac or red, often with a deep blotch at the base of each petal, anthers pale yellow. Capsule rounded.

Identification difficulty
Habitat

Cultivated and waste land, waysides.

When to see it

June to August.

Life History

Annual.

UK Status

Found fairly frequently throughout Britain.

VC55 Status

Fairly frequent in Leicestershire and Rutland. The Flora of Leicestershire published in 1988 states that it occurred in 83 of the 617 tetrads.

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2020+ | 2015-2019 | pre-2015

UK Map

Species profile

Common names
Opium Poppy
Species group:
Wildflowers
Kingdom:
Plantae
Order:
Ranunculales
Family:
Papaveraceae
Records on NatureSpot:
95
First record:
08/07/2007 (Calow, Graham)
Last record:
11/10/2023 (Pugh, Dylan)

Total records by month

% of records within its species group

10km squares with records

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