Plant of the Week
Field Poppy, Flanders Poppy, Corn Poppy
Latin: Papaver rhoeas
Given the colossal waste and human suffering that mankind proffers in waging
war against neighboring countries, it is not surprising that a floral emblem has
emerged to represent the suffering and loss associated with war. The European
field poppy has assumed this role for the wars of the 20th century.
The field poppy is an annual flower widely distributed throughout Europe. It
grows about 2 feet tall and has delicately textured crepe-textured flowers to 3
inches across held singly aloft on thin stems. Before opening, the olive-sized
buds nod downwards as they await their day in the sun. Flower color is variable
in the species with over 20 botanical varieties described, but the most common
type is red. The red of blood.
The poppy has been associated with war since at least the Battle of Waterloo
in 1815 when Duke Wellington of England and the Prussian General Blucher
decisively defeated Napoleon on this battlefield in modern day Belgium. By this
time the machines of war - especially cannons and the horsepower needed to move
them about - were beginning to churn the countryside when a battle took place.
But it was WWI, and especially the battles of the Low Country of Flanders - a
province of Belgium, that resulted in the final adoption of the field poppy as
the token of war. The story goes that, after heavy fighting in the area had
ended, graves were dug and soldiers interred. The following spring when the
graves were visited, they were awash in a sea of red poppies - plants that had
not been seen in the region for years.
That the poppies appeared after the graves were dug is botanically
interesting but not miraculous - at least not in the conventional way. Poppy
seeds have a type of secondary dormancy called "photo-dormancy" and require
light to germinate. These tiny seeds may lie dormant 25 to 50 years in the soil
biding their time until sunlight appears. A pigment called phytochrome
intercepts red light rays and begins a cascade of events that leads to
germination.
An American, Moina Michael, wrote a poem about poppies and their seemingly
miraculous appearance in 1915. She began wearing an artificial poppy made by a
French firm. This eventually caught on as a patriotic symbol and was adopted by
the English who celebrated their first Poppy Day in 1921 to remember those lost
in battle. By 1922 a factory employing disabled war veterans was established in
Great Britain to make paper mache poppies. By the late 20's the poppies, sold as
boutonnieres or wreaths, had made their way to the US and were sold as a fund
raising activity for American war veterans.
In England a company existed into the 1980s to manufacture poppies and still
had about 180 employees at that time - still staffed by disabled but not
necessarily disabled veterans. The practice of selling paper mache poppies for a
dime was common in my grade school days. When I relate this story to college
kids of today, they show no signs of recognition so the practice seems to have
stopped.
The field poppy has escaped cultivation in North America but does not appear
to survive long term in the South. It is often used as a part of a wildflower
mix that is seeded in the fall with blooms appearing in mid spring the following
year. Poppies transplant poorly so it is usually best to plant the seeds where
they are intended to grow.
By: Gerald Klingaman, retired
Extension Horticulturist
- Ornamentals
Extension News -
March 23, 2001
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