Papaver hybridum
Ecology
This annual occurs in arable crops, and sometimes in other disturbed habitats. It is most frequent on chalky soils, but also grows on other limestones and on calcareous sands. The seed, which can be long-lived, germinates in both autumn and spring. 0-320 m (Buxton, Derbys.).
Status
Trends
Many of the losses of this species took place before 1930. Although it is thought to have decreased in abundance since 1950 due to the increased use of herbicides, this is not reflected at the 10-km scale where its distribution is more or less stable.
World Distribution
As an archaeophyte P. hybridum has a Submediterranean-Subatlantic distribution.
Broad Habitats
Light (Ellenberg): 7
Moisture (Ellenberg): 4
Reaction (Ellenberg): 8
Nitrogen (Ellenberg): 4
Salt Tolerance (Ellenberg): 0
January Mean Temperature (Celsius): 4.1
July Mean Temperature (Celsius): 15.9
Annual Precipitation (mm): 776
Height (cm): 50
Perennation - primary
Life Form - primary
Woodiness
Clonality - primary
Count of 10km squares in Great Britain: 357
Count of 10km squares in Ireland: 33
Count of 10km squares in the Channel Isles: 6
Atlas Change Index: -0.35
JNCC Designations
Scarce Atlas Account
Papaver hybridum L.
Rough poppy
Status: not scarce
This is a weed of calcareous, well-drained, and therefore light, soils. It normally occurs along the margins of autumn and spring-sown cereal crops, but can also be found on tracksides and waste land. P. hybridum is constantly associated with P. rhoeas, less so with P. argemone and P. dubium. It usually forms part of a species-rich community which may include some of the less common weed species such as Euphorbia exigua, Fumaria densiflora, Legousia hybrida, Lithospermum arvense, Petroselinum segetum, Scandix pecten-veneris and Valerianella dentata. It is confined to the lowlands.
An annual which is mostly self-pollinated. Although capable of producing 1500 seeds per plant, dispersal is inefficient with many seeds being retained in the capsule and hence germination is often close to the parent plant. It germinates in autumn and spring, but plants tend to be more vigorous in the less competitive spring-sown crops. P. hybridum normally exists as a few scattered individuals on the very edge of crop margins where regimes of herbicide and fertiliser applications are not so intense, but occasional larger populations can be found.
In Britain, P. hybridum has a more restricted range than that of P. argemone. It is another species which has diminished in response to the increased use of chemical herbicides and fertilisers since the 1950s.
It is distributed throughout the lowlands of central and southern Europe (Jalas & Suominen 1991), and eastwards to Iran and India. It is also found North Africa. In common with the other British Popover species, it has almost certainly been introduced as an agricultural weed in ancient times. It is considered to be threatened with extinction or vulnerable in most of the countries of north-west Europe.
For a more detailed account of this species, see McNaughton & Harper (1964b).
A. Smith
Atlas text references
Atlas (29a)
.
1988. The Irish Red Data Book. 1. Vascular Plants.
Jalas & Suominen (1991)
Kadereit (1986b)
.
1964. Biological Flora of the British Isles. No. 99. Papaver rhoeas L. (pp. 767-779), Papaver dubium L. (pp. 780-783), Papaver lecoqii Lamotte (pp. 783-786), Papaver argemone L. (pp. 786-789), Papaver hybridum L. (pp. 789-793). Journal of Ecology. 52:767-793.
.
1965. Vergleichende Chorologie der zentraleuropäischen Flora. Volume 1. 2 vols.
.
1994. Scarce plants in Britain.
.
1990. The ecology and conservation of rare arable weed species and communities.