Papaver

Cultures and produces - Horticulture - Aromatic and medicinal perfume plant

Horticulture - Aromatic and medicinal perfume plant

Production

Papaver is a genus of plants in the Papaveraceae family, native to temperate and cold regions of Eurasia, Africa and North America, comprising around fifty accepted species (up to a hundred according to some authors).

This genus includes the poppy(Papaver rhoeas) and the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum). These species are often referred to as " poppies ", but this vernacular name can also refer to other species belonging to related genera, such as the California poppy (genus Eschscholzia) or the Himalayan blue poppy (genus Meconopsis).

Poppies are herbaceous plants with pinnate or bipinnate leaves and large, often solitary, often brightly coloured flowers, usually with four petals. The stamens are numerous. The pistil comprises an ovoid, unilocular ovary with stigmas at the top, arranged like the rays of a circle. The fruit is a capsule with porricidal dehiscence. These plants produce a white latex. Almost all poppies contain alkaloids, which can be toxic, have somniferous, sedative or analgesic properties, or even be used as narcotics.