Opium poppy facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Opium poppy
Scientific classification
Genus:	Papaver
Species:	somniferum

The Papaver somniferum, also known as the opium poppy or breadseed poppy, is a type of flowering plant in the Papaveraceae family. This plant is special because it gives us both opium (used mainly for medicines) and poppy seeds (which we eat!). It's also a beautiful plant grown in gardens. This poppy likely first grew east of the Mediterranean Sea, but over a long time, people have planted it all over Europe and Asia.

Farmers grow this poppy plant for three main reasons. First, to get poppy seeds for food. Second, to produce opium for the medicine industry. Third, to get other natural chemicals called alkaloids, like thebaine and oripavine, which are used to make important medicines. Scientists are always working to create new types of these poppies for each of these uses. A smaller amount of P. somniferum is also grown just for its pretty flowers in gardens.

Today, many types of poppies have been grown that do not produce much opium. For example, a type called 'Sujata' doesn't make any milky sap at all. Because all types of P. somniferum produce seeds that you can eat, the name "breadseed poppy" is often more accurate. This difference is important for laws about growing the plant.

Discover the Opium Poppy Plant

Papaver somniferum is an annual plant, meaning it lives for about one year. It can grow up to about 100 centimeters (about 3 feet) tall. The plant often looks greyish-green because it has a special coating called glaucous. Its stem and leaves have a few rough hairs. The large leaves are shaped with rounded parts, and the upper leaves wrap around the stem.

The flowers are big, usually 3 to 10 centimeters (1 to 4 inches) wide. They typically have four petals that can be white, purple, or red, sometimes with dark spots at the bottom. After the flower, a smooth, round seed pod forms. This pod has 12 to 18 lines or a wavy cap on top. If you cut any part of the plant, a white milky sap will come out.

Naming the Poppy: Taxonomy

The famous Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus officially described Papaver somniferum in his important book Species Plantarum in 1753.

Different Types of Poppies

People have used P. somniferum for a very long time, since the Stone Age! This long history has led to many different forms of the plant. There are 52 known natural types. Growing P. somniferum can be tricky because people want different things from it. For medicine, they want poppies with lots of special chemicals. But for food, they want poppies with as few of those chemicals as possible.

There is one accepted subspecies called P. somniferum subsp. setigerum. There are also many other varieties and cultivars (types grown by people). The flowers come in many colors, and other parts of the plant can look different too, like the number of petals, the number of seeds, or the color of the seeds. For example, Papaver somniferum var. paeoniflorum has very full, "double" flowers in many colors. The variety Sujata does not produce any milky sap and is not used for making medicines.

Where Poppies Grow: Distribution and Habitat

The opium poppy probably first grew in the Eastern Mediterranean area. But because people have planted it so much across Europe for thousands of years, it's hard to know exactly where it started. It has also escaped from gardens and now grows wild in many parts of the world with mild climates, especially in the south and east of the British Isles.

Poppy Plant Health: Ecology

Diseases that Affect Poppies

P. somniferum can get sick from fungi, insects, and viruses. Some diseases, like downy mildew and root rot, can spread through seeds. Farmers use special sprays and farming methods to help control these diseases.

One common fungal disease is called Peronospora arborescens, which causes downy mildew. It likes wet and humid weather. This fungus gets into the plant's roots and then spreads to the leaves. It can make the stem and flower stalks bend and cause yellow spots on the leaves. The underside of the leaves might get a fuzzy coating, which spreads the infection. Another type of downy mildew, Peronospora somniferi, can make poppy plants small and misshapen. Farmers can spray fungicides early to prevent downy mildew.

Leaf blight, caused by the fungus Helminthosporium papaveris, is another very damaging disease worldwide. This fungus can cause young plants to have root rot and older plants to have stunted stems. It also causes spots on the leaves and can spread to the seed pods and seeds. Planting seeds early and plowing old poppy plants deeply can help reduce the fungus for the next year's crop.

Poppy plants can also get mosaic diseases from viruses like rattle virus and the Carlavirus. In 2006, a new virus called "opium poppy mosaic virus" (OPMV) was found in New Zealand. It caused leaves to have mosaic patterns and blotches.

Pests that Harm Poppies

Only a few pests usually bother P. somniferum.

Flea beetles can make holes in the leaves of young plants. Aphids are tiny insects that suck the sap from flower buds. The poppy root weevil (Stenocarus ruficornis) is another important pest. These insects live in the soil and move to poppy fields in spring. Adult weevils eat the leaves of small plants. Female weevils lay their eggs in the lower leaves, and when the larvae hatch, they burrow into the soil to feed on the poppy roots.

How Poppies are Grown: Cultivation

The P. somniferum plant goes through six main stages as it grows. First, the seedlings sprout. Then, the rosette-shaped leaves and stalks grow. Next, the flower buds start to form. After that, the plant flowers. Then, it reaches "technical maturity," meaning it's ready to be harvested. Finally, it reaches "biological maturity" when the seeds are dry and ready. The amount of daylight seems to be the most important factor for when the flowers develop.

Poppy plants grow very slowly at the beginning. This means that weeds can easily grow faster and take over. It's very important to control weeds well in the first 50 days after planting. Poppies are also sensitive to weed killers. Farmers have found that certain weed killers work well. In recent years, farmers have started using weed killers after the plants have grown a bit. Using two specific weed killers together has been shown to be very effective. The best way to control weeds depends on when the seeds are planted (fall or spring), what crop was grown before, and the type of soil. A common weed in poppy fields is Papaver rhoeas, which is in the same plant family as the poppy. This makes it hard to control with chemicals. So, managing weeds is a big challenge and requires a lot of knowledge from the farmer. To control weeds even better, farmers often use both chemical sprays and mechanical tools.

For good growth, it's suggested to have 70 to 80 poppy plants per square meter. The plant produces the most milky sap when it has a little less water than usual.

Growing Poppies for Beauty: Ornamental Use

You can buy live poppy plants and seeds from garden stores in many parts of the world, including the United States. Gardeners love poppies for their bright, colorful flowers, how strong and reliable they are, and how easy they are to grow from seeds or young plants. Some types even have a unique chocolate-like smell! Dried poppy seed pods are also popular for flower arrangements.

Even though "opium poppy" is mentioned in some laws, P. somniferum can be grown legally in the United States if it's for seeds or as an ornamental flower. In summer, you can see opium poppies blooming in gardens across North America and Europe, including in public gardens like the United States Botanic Garden and the Missouri Botanical Garden.

Many countries grow these plants, and some rely on selling the plant for medicine as a main source of money. As an extra way to make money, the seeds from the same plants are sold for food. In 1998, the United Nations passed a resolution to help control the international trade of poppy seeds to prevent illegal uses.

Poppy Production Around the World

Poppy Seed Production – 2018
Country	(tonnes)
Turkey	26,991
Czech Republic	13,666
Spain	12,360
World	76,240
Source: FAOSTAT of the United Nations

Poppy Seeds for Food

In 2018, the world produced 76,240 tonnes of poppy seeds for food. Turkey produced the most, making up 35% of the total. Poppy seed production can change a lot because of weather and other environmental factors. This caused the price of poppy seeds to stay the same between 2008 and 2009 due to lots of seeds available, bad weather, and poor quality. The biggest buyer of poppy seeds is India, followed by Russia, Poland, and Germany.

Poppy seed oil is not as common as other oils because the poppy plant doesn't produce as much oil compared to other oil crops.

Poppies for Medicine

Australia (especially Tasmania), Turkey, and India are the main places that grow poppies for medicinal purposes and for making medicines like morphine or codeine. In 2014, The New York Times reported that Tasmania produced most of the world's supply of poppies used for making thebaine (85%) and oripavine (100%). Tasmania also produced 25% of the world's opium and codeine.

Rules for Growing Poppies

Opium poppy fields near Metheringham, Lincolnshire, England

In most of Central Europe, poppy seeds are commonly used in traditional pastries and cakes. It's legal to grow poppies in these areas, though in Germany, you need a special permit.

In the Czech Republic, since 1999, if you grow poppies in fields larger than 100 square meters, you must report it to the local Custom Office. It is against the law to take opium from the plants. It's also against the law to grow types of poppies that have more than 0.8% of morphine in their dry seed pods, unless it's for research. The name Czech blue poppy refers to the blue poppy seeds used for food.

The United Kingdom doesn't require a permit to grow opium poppies, but you do need one to take opium from them for medicines.

In the United States, opium poppies and poppy straw are generally not allowed for drug production. Canada also forbids having or getting the opium poppy or its related substances, but there is an exception for poppy seeds. In some parts of Australia, it's illegal to grow P. somniferum, but in Tasmania, about 50% of the world's supply for medicine is grown.

In New Zealand, it's legal to grow the opium poppy as long as it's not used to make illegal drugs.

In the United Arab Emirates, growing the opium poppy is illegal, and so is having poppy seeds.

Burma has banned growing poppies in some areas. In northern Burma, these bans ended a very old tradition of growing the opium poppy. Many farmers had to leave their homes because of these bans.

In South Korea, growing the opium poppy is strictly against the law.

How Poppies are Used

A Look Back in History

People have used the opium poppy for a very long time, even before written history. The ancient Minoans knew how to make and use opium. The ancient Greeks later called its sap opion. The English name comes from this Greek word.

Evidence shows that people started growing the opium poppy very early, around 5000 BC, in parts of the Mediterranean and west of the Rhine River. These findings show how early the plant was grown and how it spread across western Europe.

In the past, opium was used to help with asthma, stomach problems, and poor eyesight.

Opium became a very important product that was traded legally and illegally across places like India, Colonial America, and China. The East India Company started trading opium in 1683. In 1773, the Governor of Bengal took control of opium production in Bengal for the East India Company. Growing and making Indian opium became even more controlled between 1797 and 1949. East India Company traders sold Indian opium, which was smuggled into China against the Qing government's rules. This trade led to the First Opium War and Second Opium War.

Poppy Seeds and Oil

Dried blue, grey and white poppy seeds used for pastries in Germany.

Polish makowiec, a nut roll filled with poppy seed paste.

Poppy seeds from Papaver somniferum are an important food and the source of poppy seed oil, which is an edible oil used in many ways. The seeds have very tiny amounts of the chemicals found in opium, and the oil has even less. Both the oil and the leftover seed material also have commercial uses.

After the oil is pressed out, the leftover poppy press cake can be used as food for different animals, like chickens. It's especially good for birds when they are losing their feathers and growing new ones. Besides animal food, poppy plants offer other useful parts. For example, the plant's stem can be made into energy blocks or pellets for heating.

Poppy seeds are eaten in many cultures. Bakers use them whole to decorate breads and cakes, or they grind them and mix them with sugar for sweet fillings. They have a creamy, nutty taste. When used with ground coconut, the seeds can make a unique and flavorful curry base. They can be dry roasted and ground for use in wet or dry curries.

When the European Union tried to ban people from growing small amounts of Papaver somniferum in their gardens, citizens in EU countries where poppy seeds are eaten a lot (like in Central-Eastern Europe) strongly disagreed. This made the EU change its mind. However, countries like Singapore, UAE, and Saudi Arabia ban even having poppy seeds, not just growing the plants.

Opiates from Poppies

Dried poppy seed pods and stems, and seeds.

The opium poppy is the main source of opium, which is the dried milky sap from the seed pods. Opium contains natural chemicals called alkaloids or opiates, such as morphine, codeine, and others. The name somniferum means "sleep-bringing," which refers to how some of these opiates can make you sleepy.

Poppies in Culture

Opium poppies (both the flower and the fruit) are shown on the coat of arms of the Royal College of Anaesthetists, which is a medical organization.

See also

In Spanish: Adormidera para niños