Papaver
Encyclopedia
Papaver is a genus
of 70-100 species
of frost-tolerant annuals
, biennials
, and perennials
native to temperate and cold regions of Eurasia
, Africa
and North America
. It is the type genus of the poppy
family
, Papaveraceae
.
s have 2 sepal
s that fall off as the bud
opens, and 4 (or up to 6) petal
s in red, pink, orange, yellow, or lilac. There are many stamen
s in several whorls around a compound pistil
, which results from the fusion of carpels. The stigma
s are visible on top of the capsule, and the number of stigmas corresponds to the number of fused carpels.
The ovary
later develops in a dehiscing
capsule
, capped by the dried stigmas. The numerous, tiny seed
s escape with the slightest breeze through the pores of the capsule.
s since 5000 BC in Mesopotamia
. They were found in Egypt
ian tombs. In Greek
mythology
, the poppy was associated with Demeter
, goddess of fertility and agriculture
. The origin of the cultural symbol was probably Minoan
Crete, because a figurine known as the poppy goddess was found at a Minoan sanctuary in Crete. People believed they would get a bountiful crop if poppies grew in their field, hence the name 'corn poppy'.
They are also sold as cut flowers in flower arrangements, especially the Iceland Poppy.
In the course of history, poppies have always been attributed important medicinal properties. The stems contain a latex
or milky sap. This may cause skin irritation, and the milky sap present in the Opium Poppy
(Papaver somniferum) contains several narcotic
alkaloid
s, including morphine
and codeine
.
The alkaloid rhoeadine
, derived from the flowers of the Corn Poppy (Papaver rhoeas), is used as a mild sedative
.
Poppy seed
s are used in baking and cooking, and poppyseed oil
is used in cooking and pharmaceuticals, and as a radiocontrast
agent.
the following are lectotypified
with their lectotype species. Subsequent cladistic classification was by Carolan et al. 2006 suggested Papaver was not monophyletic.
Clade 1. Meconella, Meconopsis
Clade 2. Carinatae, Meconidium, Oxytona, Papaver, Pilosa, Pseudopilosa and Rhoeadium
Clade 3. Argemonidium, Roemeria refracta
The following are lectotypified
with their lectotype species:
other:
Section
Meconella (not to be confused with the genus Meconella
) has an alpine
and circumpolar arctic
distribution and includes some of the most northerly-growing vascular land plants.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of 70-100 species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of frost-tolerant annuals
Annual plant
An annual plant is a plant that usually germinates, flowers, and dies in a year or season. True annuals will only live longer than a year if they are prevented from setting seed...
, biennials
Biennial plant
A biennial plant is a flowering plant that takes two years to complete its biological lifecycle. In the first year the plant grows leaves, stems, and roots , then it enters a period of dormancy over the colder months. Usually the stem remains very short and the leaves are low to the ground, forming...
, and perennials
Perennial plant
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter lived annuals and biennials. The term is sometimes misused by commercial gardeners or horticulturalists to describe only herbaceous perennials...
native to temperate and cold regions of Eurasia
Eurasia
Eurasia is a continent or supercontinent comprising the traditional continents of Europe and Asia ; covering about 52,990,000 km2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres...
, Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
and North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. It is the type genus of the poppy
Poppy
A poppy is one of a group of a flowering plants in the poppy family, many of which are grown in gardens for their colorful flowers. Poppies are sometimes used for symbolic reasons, such as in remembrance of soldiers who have died during wartime....
family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
, Papaveraceae
Papaveraceae
Papaveraceae, informally known as the poppy family, are an economically important family of 44 genera and approximately 770 species of flowering plants in the order Ranunculales. The family is cosmopolitan, occurring in temperate and subtropical climates, but almost unknown in the tropics...
.
Description
The flowerFlower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
s have 2 sepal
Sepal
A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Collectively the sepals form the calyx, which is the outermost whorl of parts that form a flower. Usually green, sepals have the typical function of protecting the petals when the flower is in bud...
s that fall off as the bud
Bud
In botany, a bud is an undeveloped or embryonic shoot and normally occurs in the axil of a leaf or at the tip of the stem. Once formed, a bud may remain for some time in a dormant condition, or it may form a shoot immediately. Buds may be specialized to develop flowers or short shoots, or may have...
opens, and 4 (or up to 6) petal
Petal
Petals are modified leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They often are brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. Together, all of the petals of a flower are called a corolla. Petals are usually accompanied by another set of special leaves called sepals lying...
s in red, pink, orange, yellow, or lilac. There are many stamen
Stamen
The stamen is the pollen producing reproductive organ of a flower...
s in several whorls around a compound pistil
Gynoecium
Gynoecium is most commonly used as a collective term for all carpels in a flower. A carpel is the ovule and seed producing reproductive organ in flowering plants. Carpels are derived from ovule-bearing leaves which evolved to form a closed structure containing the ovules...
, which results from the fusion of carpels. The stigma
Stigma (botany)
The stigma is the receptive tip of a carpel, or of several fused carpels, in the gynoecium of a flower. The stigma receives pollen at pollination and it is on the stigma that the pollen grain germinates. The stigma is adapted to catch and trap pollen with various hairs, flaps, or sculpturings...
s are visible on top of the capsule, and the number of stigmas corresponds to the number of fused carpels.
The ovary
Ovary (plants)
In the flowering plants, an ovary is a part of the female reproductive organ of the flower or gynoecium. Specifically, it is the part of the pistil which holds the ovule and is located above or below or at the point of connection with the base of the petals and sepals...
later develops in a dehiscing
Dehiscence (botany)
Dehiscence is the opening, at maturity, in a pre-defined way, of a plant structure, such as a fruit, anther, or sporangium, to release its contents. Sometimes this involves the complete detachment of a part. Structures that open in this way are said to be dehiscent...
capsule
Capsule (fruit)
In botany a capsule is a type of simple, dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. A capsule is a structure composed of two or more carpels that in most cases is dehiscent, i.e. at maturity, it splits apart to release the seeds within. A few capsules are indehiscent, for example...
, capped by the dried stigmas. The numerous, tiny seed
Seed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
s escape with the slightest breeze through the pores of the capsule.
History and uses
Poppies have been grown as ornamental plantOrnamental plant
Ornamental plants are plants that are grown for decorative purposes in gardens and landscape design projects, as house plants, for cut flowers and specimen display...
s since 5000 BC in Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
. They were found in Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
ian tombs. In Greek
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
mythology
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
, the poppy was associated with Demeter
Demeter
In Greek mythology, Demeter is the goddess of the harvest, who presided over grains, the fertility of the earth, and the seasons . Her common surnames are Sito as the giver of food or corn/grain and Thesmophoros as a mark of the civilized existence of agricultural society...
, goddess of fertility and agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
. The origin of the cultural symbol was probably Minoan
Minoan civilization
The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age civilization that arose on the island of Crete and flourished from approximately the 27th century BC to the 15th century BC. It was rediscovered at the beginning of the 20th century through the work of the British archaeologist Arthur Evans...
Crete, because a figurine known as the poppy goddess was found at a Minoan sanctuary in Crete. People believed they would get a bountiful crop if poppies grew in their field, hence the name 'corn poppy'.
They are also sold as cut flowers in flower arrangements, especially the Iceland Poppy.
In the course of history, poppies have always been attributed important medicinal properties. The stems contain a latex
Latex
Latex is the stable dispersion of polymer microparticles in an aqueous medium. Latexes may be natural or synthetic.Latex as found in nature is a milky fluid found in 10% of all flowering plants . It is a complex emulsion consisting of proteins, alkaloids, starches, sugars, oils, tannins, resins,...
or milky sap. This may cause skin irritation, and the milky sap present in the Opium Poppy
Opium poppy
Opium poppy, Papaver somniferum, is the species of plant from which opium and poppy seeds are extracted. Opium is the source of many opiates, including morphine , thebaine, codeine, papaverine, and noscapine...
(Papaver somniferum) contains several narcotic
Narcotic
The term narcotic originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with any sleep-inducing properties. In the United States of America it has since become associated with opioids, commonly morphine and heroin and their derivatives, such as hydrocodone. The term is, today, imprecisely...
alkaloid
Alkaloid
Alkaloids are a group of naturally occurring chemical compounds that contain mostly basic nitrogen atoms. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Also some synthetic compounds of similar structure are attributed to alkaloids...
s, including morphine
Morphine
Morphine is a potent opiate analgesic medication and is considered to be the prototypical opioid. It was first isolated in 1804 by Friedrich Sertürner, first distributed by same in 1817, and first commercially sold by Merck in 1827, which at the time was a single small chemists' shop. It was more...
and codeine
Codeine
Codeine or 3-methylmorphine is an opiate used for its analgesic, antitussive, and antidiarrheal properties...
.
The alkaloid rhoeadine
Rhoeadine
Rhoeadine is an alkaloid derived from the flowers of the Corn Poppy . It is used as mild sedative and mild antitussive....
, derived from the flowers of the Corn Poppy (Papaver rhoeas), is used as a mild sedative
Sedative
A sedative or tranquilizer is a substance that induces sedation by reducing irritability or excitement....
.
Poppy seed
Poppy seed
Poppy seed is an oilseed obtained from the opium poppy . The tiny kidney-shaped seeds have been harvested from dried seed pods by various civilizations for thousands of years...
s are used in baking and cooking, and poppyseed oil
Poppyseed oil
Poppyseed oil is an edible oil from poppy seeds . The oil has culinary and pharmaceutical uses, as well as long established uses in the making of paints, varnishes, and soaps.Poppy seeds yield 45–50% oil...
is used in cooking and pharmaceuticals, and as a radiocontrast
Radiocontrast
Radiocontrast agents are a type of medical contrast medium used to improve the visibility of internal bodily structures in an X-ray based imaging techniques such as computed tomography or radiography...
agent.
Taxonomy
Divided into a number of sections by Kiger (1973, 1985).the following are lectotypified
Lectotype
In botanical nomenclature and zoological nomenclature, a lectotype is a kind of name-bearing type. When a species was originally described on the basis of a name-bearing type consisting of multiple specimens, one of those may be designated as the lectotype...
with their lectotype species. Subsequent cladistic classification was by Carolan et al. 2006 suggested Papaver was not monophyletic.
Clade 1. Meconella, Meconopsis
Clade 2. Carinatae, Meconidium, Oxytona, Papaver, Pilosa, Pseudopilosa and Rhoeadium
Clade 3. Argemonidium, Roemeria refracta
The following are lectotypified
Lectotype
In botanical nomenclature and zoological nomenclature, a lectotype is a kind of name-bearing type. When a species was originally described on the basis of a name-bearing type consisting of multiple specimens, one of those may be designated as the lectotype...
with their lectotype species:
- Carinatae (P. macrostomum Boiss. & Huet)
- Oxytona (P. orientale L.)
- Macrantha (P. orientale L.)- superfluous
- Calomecon (Calomecon orientale)
other:
- Papaver (P. somniferum L.) (Syn. Mecones, Meconium)
- Rhoeades (P. rhoeas L.) (Syn. Rhoeadium, Orthorhoeades)
- Meconella
- Meconopsis
- Meconidum
- Pilosa
- Pseudopilosa
- Argemonidium
- Roemaria refracta
Section
Section (botany)
In botany, a section is a taxonomic rank below the genus, but above the species. The subgenus, if present, is higher than the section, and the rank of series, if present, is below the section. Sections are typically used to help organise very large genera, which may have hundreds of species...
Meconella (not to be confused with the genus Meconella
Meconella
Meconella is a small genus of flowering plants in the poppy family. They are known generally as fairypoppies.There are about 3 species:*Meconella californica - California fairypoppy*Meconella denticulata - smallflower fairypoppy...
) has an alpine
Alpine climate
Alpine climate is the average weather for a region above the tree line. This climate is also referred to as mountain climate or highland climate....
and circumpolar arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
distribution and includes some of the most northerly-growing vascular land plants.
Species
There are 70-100 species, including:
|
Papaver lateritium Papaver lateritium or Armenian poppy is a perennial poppy of the genus Papaver.... Papaver radicatum Papaver radicatum is a plant species of the genus Papaver. The species grows at a latitude of 83°40'N on Kaffeklubben Island, making it the northern most growing plant in the world.This poppy appears on the Coat of arms of Nunavut.-See also:*Svalbard poppy,... : Rooted Poppy Shirley Poppy Shirley Poppy is the name given to an ornamental cultivar group derived from the European wild field poppy .- History :The Shirley poppy was created from 1880 onwards by the Reverend William Wilks, vicar of the parish of Shirley in England... . Papaver setigerum Papaver setigerum, common name Poppy of Troy or Dwarf Breadseed Poppy, is a herbaceous annual plant belonging to the Papaveraceae family.... : Poppy of Troy, Dwarf Breadseed Poppy Papaver umbonatum Papaver umbonatum also known as the Semitic poppy, is a flowering plant, a species of Papaver native to Israel and Palestine... Papaver umbonatum Papaver umbonatum also known as the Semitic poppy, is a flowering plant, a species of Papaver native to Israel and Palestine... : Semitic, Isræli poppy |
Gallery
External links
- Flora of North America
- Flora Italiana
- University of Melbourne: Papaver
- JAMES C. CAROLAN, INGRID L. I. HOOK, MARK W. CHASE, JOACHIM W. KADEREIT and TREVOR R. HODKINSON. Phylogenetics of Papaver and Related Genera Based on DNA Sequences from ITS Nuclear Ribosomal DNA and Plastid trnL Intron and trnL–F Intergenic Spacers. Annals of Botany 2006 98(1):141-155