Opium poppy - plant profile


Names

Opium poppy, common poppy, garden poppy, chessbolls (English)
Kas-kas, kashkash, aphim, afim, afyun (Hindu)
Ahiphenam, aphukam, ahifen, chosa, khasa (Sanskrit)
Pasto (Bengal)
Aphina, khuskhus, posta (Gujarat)
Abini, gashagasha, kasakasa (Tamil)
(names used for plants, fruit capsules, seeds and opium)

Botanical name: Papaver somniferum
Family: Papaveraceae, the poppy family.

The plant

Opium poppy is an upright herb growing to a height of 50 -150 cm.

Photo of opium poppies, with large round fruit capsules, in a garden.
Opium poppies with large fruit capsules.

Flowers - with papery petals that can vary in colour from white to red or lilac with a darker purple base.

Fruits - a rounded capsule topped with the disc-like stigma remains. The liquid that is obtained from the fruit capsule contains morphine alkaloids which are dried to produce raw opium. Opium is used to manufacture medicinal drugs such as codeine and morphine, and for illegal drugs such as heroin.

Seeds - small and black, dark blue or yellow-white. The seeds are edible and tasty and are used in bakery products such as poppy-seeded bread.






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