Opium Poppy - Papaver somniferum
Description
Medium to tall, erect plant. Leaves greyish green, oblong, but lobed and undulate, the upper clasping the stem. Flowers large, 8 to 18 cm purple, pale lilac or red, often with a deep blotch at the base of each petal, anthers pale yellow. Capsule rounded.
Identification difficulty
Habitat
Cultivated and waste land, waysides.
When to see it
June to August.
Life History
Annual.
UK Status
Found fairly frequently throughout Britain.
VC55 Status
Fairly frequent in Leicestershire and Rutland. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 83 of the 617 tetrads.
 Old Fosse Sapcote SP 5030 9289 (taken 22.6.2008).JPG)
Graham CalowSapcote22 June 2008 Old Fosse Sapcote SP 5030 9289 (taken 23.6.2008),.JPG)
Graham CalowSapcote22 June 2008
Graham CalowSapcote27 June 2013 Old Fosse Sapcote SP 5030 9289 (taken 23.6.2008)..JPG)
Graham CalowSapcote22 June 2008 Old Fosse Sapcote SP 5030 9289 (taken 8.7.2007),,.JPG)
Graham CalowSapcote08 July 2007
 Old Fosse Sapcote SP 5030 9289 (taken 22.6.2008).JPG)
 Old Fosse Sapcote SP 5030 9289 (taken 23.6.2008),.JPG)
 Old Fosse Sapcote SP 5030 9289 (taken 23.6.2008)..JPG)
 Old Fosse Sapcote SP 5030 9289 (taken 8.7.2007),,.JPG)
Leicestershire & Rutland Map
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MAP KEY:
Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2020+ | 2015-2019 | pre-2015