Papaver

Papaver is one of the genus of the Papaveraceae or the poppy family and there are approximately 120 species included in this genus. These are flowers that grow best in cool weather climates that include Europe, North America, Canada, Asia and some parts of Africa.

In the many different species of this genus there are flowers with four, five and six petals, they come in small stems and also in larger stemmed flowers. The blooms are in colors of deep reds, white, violet, a bright yellow or a soft pink. They can also be double or single blooms that in some species are large in size reaching as large as 15 to 20 cm across. In the right climate and soil conditions they will bloom continuously.

In this genus of poppies there are many species that gardeners know and some that are only indigenous to certain climates and soils. Some of these are Papaver aculeatum, Papaver aculeatum also known as the South African poppy, there is Papaver califormicum; better known as the California poppy, Fire Poppy or the Western Poppy. The well known Flanders poppy, which is Papaver rhoeas, Papaver orientale known as the Orential poppy, Papaver miyabeanum also known as the Japanese poppy and Papaver nudicaule known as the Iceland poppy. These are a small amount of the species that can be found in this genus.

One of the other species in this group is the Papaver somiferum, better known as the Opium poppy and is where the alkaloids can be taken to make opiate drugs.