POPPY (AS. popig, papig, from Lat. popover, poppy), Papurrr. A genus of the natural order Papaveracem, annual and perennial bristly-haired herbs, natives mostly of warm countries. The leaves are alternate and entire or lobed and cut.
The poppy has been in cultivation from early times. It was grown by the Swiss lake-dwellers, and a species native to the shores of the Mediter ranean was utilized by the Greeks and Romans. By far the most important species is the opium, white, or oil poppy (Paparcr somniferum), im portant alike for its yield of opimn (q.v.) and for the bland, fixed oil of the seeds, used like olive oil. The seed contains no opium nor any narcotic principle, and was well known to the ancients as a pleas ant article of food. but the manufacture of oil was at one time pro hibited in France from the mistaken notion that the oil must be narcotic. The seeds yield about 40 per cent. of the oil. and the oil cake is useful for man ure or for feeding cat tle. The oil is some times used by painters and by soap-boilers, but is not good for burning. in the cultivation of the poppy for oil the seed is often sown in autumn, where the se verity of the winter frosts is not to be feared: in more north ern parts it is sown in spring, and sometimes the seed is scattered on the snow. Beimg very small, it needs little or no harrowing. Early sow ing is favorable to the size of the plant and the yield. The plants ore often cultivated in drills.
An open but rich soil is best, and a sheltered situation is necessary, as in exposed situations much of the seed is scattered by the wind. In
the 'United States the poppy is chiefly known as a garden flower.
Under cultivation the flowers of the poppy readily become double, and a large number of ornamental varieties have been derived from various species. As ornamental plants they are popular on account of their large showy tlowers.
their hardiness and ease of culture. The Oriental poppy (Paparer orirntale). a native of Armenia, is one of the most important decorative species.
Its flowers, which are deep crimson. are larger than those of any other species. The 'Iceland poppy (Popover nudicaulc), a native of Siberia and the northern parts of America, has orange or yellow flowers and is a widely- distributed alpine species. The Griental and the Iceland poppy arc the best ',en-finial species cultivated for orna ment. The corn poppy or common red poppy (Paifarfr llhows) is an annual occurring as a in European grain fields, especially on cal careous soils. Its bright red flowers make it very conspicuous. A large number of ornamental varieties have been developed from this species. The ornamental poppies grow well in any garden soil, but they produce the best results on sandy loans. The seed is sown in spring in shallow drills where the plants are to bloom, and are later thinned to about one foot apart. For illus tration of California poppy, see Plates of CALI FORNIA FLORA and POPPY AND PEPPER TREE.