Oilseed poppy

Papaver somniferum, the opium poppy, is a glaucous annual herb in the family Papaveraceae growing to about 1 m tall. The whole plant is greyish-green with a waxy bloom, and exudes a thick white latex when any part is wounded. Large lobed, coarsely toothed leaves clasp the upper stem, while the showy solitary flowers, 8–18 cm across, have four crinkled petals coloured red, mauve, pink or white, often with a dark blotch at the base, surrounding a boss of dark stamens. The fruit is a smooth, rounded capsule crowned by a flat disc of 12–18 radiating stigmatic rays, releasing through pores numerous small kidney-shaped seeds whose colour ranges from cream to slate-blue. Native to the western Mediterranean region, the species has been cultivated since antiquity for its seeds, seed oil and the dried latex (opium) drawn from the unripe capsule, and is now naturalised through much of the world’s temperate zone. It is the botanical source of morphine, codeine and related alkaloids.