Papaver somniferum
Tracheophyta
›Magnoliopsida›Papaveraceae›Papaver›Papaver somniferum
Ecology
An annual occurring as a casual garden escape on roadsides, waste ground and rubbish tips, and occasionally in arable fields as a relic of cultivation for poppy seed. Lowland, with one record at 410 m (Eisteddfa Gurig, Cards.).
Status
Archaeophyte
Trends
This species is a medicinal, culinary and ornamental plant. Its seeds have been found in Bronze Age archaeological deposits and are frequently found from the Iron Age onwards. It is widely cultivated as a garden plant. Subsp. somniferum is the common taxon, whilst subsp. setigerum is a rare casual which might be a distinct species (Stace, 1997).
World Distribution
Probably native of the eastern Mediterranean region, but native distribution obscured by its spread in cultivation.
vc29, Cherry Hinton
© Shannon, P
vc29, Cherry Hinton
© Shannon, P
Broad Habitats
Light (Ellenberg): 7
Moisture (Ellenberg): 4
Reaction (Ellenberg): 7
Nitrogen (Ellenberg): 8
Salt Tolerance (Ellenberg): 0
January Mean Temperature (Celsius): 3.7
July Mean Temperature (Celsius): 15.3
Annual Precipitation (mm): 868
Height (cm): 100
Perennation - primary
Annual
Life Form - primary
Therophyte (annual land plant)
Woodiness
Herbaceous
Clonality - primary
Little or no vegetative spread
Count of 10km squares in Great Britain: 1600
Count of 10km squares in Ireland: 190
Count of 10km squares in the Channel Isles: 12
Atlas Change Index: 2.54
Weighted Changed Factor: 75
Weighted Change Factor Confidence (90%)
12
JNCC Designations
NBNSYS0000002769