Handy Pocket Guide to Tropical Plants by Elisabeth Chan

Author:Elisabeth Chan
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-4629-0729-8
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing

Opium Poppy

Papaver somniferum

Botanical family: Papaveraceae

The opium poppy is cultivated legally and illegally in a wide band of the semi-tropical to monsoonal tropical regions of the world from Iran to China.

Opium, heroin and morphine are the three useful medicinal products of Papaver somniferum that can alleviate misery and pain, but paradoxically may cause misery and pain through abuse. These three are the most familiar of the 25 or so different alkaloids contained in the plant. Opium has caused political upheavals, and its derivatives— morphine and diamorphine—are two substances which concern narcotics and crime fighting agencies worldwide.

The plant is a subshrub that produces a brilliant red flower. Opium is the dried latex from the immature, green, seed capsule. It is obtained by carefully scoring each seed capsule longitudinally so that the sap oozes out and dries on contact with the air.

The seeds of the poppy are used in baking as decorative embellishments and for flavoring in curries.

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