Red poppy is an archetypal weed of summer, flowering in profusion on disturbed soil and among unsprayed crops. Unwanted by farmers, it has long been a useful country herbal remedy. Red poppy is soothing and sedative, relieves pain and helps sleep, but without the narcotic effects of its relative, the opium poppy.
Papaveraceae Poppy family
Description: An annual with bright red flowers, growing to about 70cm. Lasts most of the summer.
Habitat: Arable land and other disturbed ground.
Distribution: Found in most of Britain and Ireland apart from mountainous areas.
Related species: Long-headed poppy (P. dubium) is very similar but has paler petals and long seed capsules. Rough poppy (P. hybridum) and prickly poppy (P. argemone) both have bristly seed capsules and are scarce. Opium poppy (P. somniferum) has grey–green leaves and the flowers are usually pale lilac with darker centres.
Parts used: Flowers and seeds, harvested in summer.
The poppy has always had a powerful hold on human imagination, and not just in opium dreams. Everybody in Britain knows ‘poppy day’, held in memory of the sacrifice made by millions in the First World War and since. Yet poppy is also symbolically the plant of forgetfulness and sleep. In some cultures it has been a plant of fertility, with its vast production of seeds and vivid red petals a reminder of the blood of life and of war, as also of renewal and rebirth.
As befits a plant of life, death, blood, dream and sleep, poppy coincides with man’s many civilisations, and its own history is intertwined in them. It is as old as agriculture itself, growing in and alongside the earliest grain crops.
Yet British fields have not always been scarlet with poppies as the grain ripens through a hot summer. It’s well within memory that the fields and hedgerows lacked virtually any poppies and other once common wild plants. Why? Because we have endured a fertiliser, herbicide and insecticide bombardment of heroic proportions. The pace has only dropped in the past twenty to thirty years. Policy-makers have now rediscovered the value of leaving land fallow and of field margins, and have paid farmers to do it. Presto! the poppies have duly come back, especially where fields have been left unsprayed.
One of poppy’s characteristics is that it looks and feels fragile, its stem being thin and wobbly, its gossamer-fine petals falling off to the touch, whereas in reality it is tailor-made for survival. Its flowering season is long, through the summer. Calculations have shown that each mature plant produces some 17,000 tiny seeds a year, which can sit in a state of dormancy for fifty and more years, awaiting the right conditions.
A change such as new ploughing or deep trenches being dug will release forgotten poppy seeds and give them the disturbed ground they need to flourish en masse. Hence the shock when poppies suddenly flowered amid the killing fields of the Great War. This stark contrast led to a Canadian medical orderly, John McCrae, finding time between his terrible duties at Ypres in 1915 to write the poem ‘In Flanders Fields’. He posted it to a magazine in London. It was printed and became immensely popular worldwide.
The poem and its powerful link to an archetypal plant of war inspired the British Legion (now the Royal British Legion) after the armistice to take up the call of remembrance. Since then, on Remembrance Day each 11th of November, solemn services are held for the fallen of all wars. Participants and many besides all wear red poppies made of paper.
It is worth underlining here that our focus is on the red poppy and not the opium poppy. Opium poppies have been grown domestically in England for millennia, and 150 years ago went into laudanum (a tincture in alcohol) and paregoric elixir (a camphorated extract). Modern pain-relieving medications including morphine and codeine are derived from opium poppy, but are prescription-only.
Use red poppy for…
Red poppy doesn’t have the dangerous reputation of its infamous cousin. Taking red poppy herbally is non-addictive and generally safe: its weak opiates work well medicinally but are not in strong enough concentration to do harm.
Red poppy has long been familiar in British country traditions. For example, the petals were collected as a colouring agent for wines and other herbal remedies. Indeed, the petals are still used to add colour to sweets and some herbal teas.
Red poppy petals can be added to summer salads for brightness, and the seeds collected as a topping for bread and to use in cooking. The seeds have mild sedative qualities.
Our glycerite recipe is good for coughs, nervous digestion, anxiety and insomnia. It is gentle and safe for children who are over-excited and cannot sleep. The petals can also be made into a tincture that will tackle similar conditions.
In general, red poppy acts as a mild sedative that also promotes perspiration, soothes respiratory passages and calms the system. Being slightly astringent, it helps remove excess mucus and improves the digestion. It soothes itchy or sore throats and hacking coughs. For insomnia, it combines well with lime blossom, wood betony and vervain, and can also be used with hops and wild lettuce.
Red poppy is a great plant of myth and archetype, with medicinal virtues on a more humble scale for the home medicine cabinet.
Red poppy glycerite
Fill a jar about three-quarters full of a mixture of 60% vegetable glycerine and 40% water. Add poppy petals to fill the jar, stirring so that the petals are covered in the glycerine mixture. Put the lid on the jar and place it in a sunny spot in the garden or on a window sill.
One of the little plastic inserts used by jam makers to keep the material pushed down under the surface of the liquid is handy, but if you don’t have one just shake the jar or stir the contents every day. This will keep the petals from floating on the top. Once the petals have faded to white, usually after only a few days, they can be removed and fresh ones added over the summer until your liquid is a rich deep red colour. It can then be strained, bottled and labelled. Your glycerite should keep well in a cool dark place until next year when you can make a fresh batch.
The glycerite is particularly good for children, as it doesn’t contain alcohol and they will like the sweet taste. It is also good for coughs and irritable or nervous digestive tracts.
Red poppy tincture
Fill a jar with fresh poppy petals, then top it up with vodka.
Put the lid on and shake well, adding a little more vodka if needed to fill the jar. Place the jar in a cool dark place – a cupboard is perfect – for two weeks, then strain and bottle.
The alcohol in a tincture makes it more warming and dispersing. While the uses are much the same as for the glycerite, the tincture is probably better for pain as it is more rapidly absorbed and has a quicker effect.
You can also combine your tincture and glycerite half and half, reducing the sweetness of the glycerite and making the tincture taste better.
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