Medicinal properties: An infusion or decoction made from its dried petals and leaves promotes sleep, relaxes the nerves and soothes a cough. An infusion made from the dried capsules was traditionally used to treat lung conditions such as asthma, bronchitis and pneumonia.
To soothe a cough, prepare a syrup by steeping five tablespoons of dried, finely crushed petals in half a litre of water for fifteen minutes; then strain it and add sugar until it reaches an oily consistency.
To combat insomnia and stress, you can drink an infusion prepared by boiling around ten capsules (without the seeds) in a litre of water; leave it to stand for at least fifteen minutes, then take two or three tablespoons mixed with milk before going to bed.
For topical use, to soothe tissues and skin inflammation, add a handful of dried poppy petals to half a litre of very hot water; leave to stand for fifteen minutes and strain before applying to the skin.
This poppy contains certain alkaloids, such as rhoeadine and papaverine, and a small amount of morphine, but it is only toxic if very large quantities are ingested.
Distribution: Sub-cosmopolitan. Europe, Central and Western Asia, Japan, North Africa and Macaronesia.

Notes: It is the most common poppy in the Canary Islands, and in the days when large areas of cereal crops were grown on these islands, it was hard work to weed out the multitude of poppies that proliferated in the fields, thriving in the well-fertilised soil and the cool shade provided by the slender stalks of wheat, barley or rye.
The red poppy is pollinated by insects, mainly bees and bumblebees. After pollination, the flower develops into a fruit, which contains numerous seeds that are released around 3–4 weeks later through the pores that open at the top of the disc.
It is a very fast-growing species, as the time between the plant’s germination and fruiting is around three months. The seeds require high temperatures to germinate and can remain dormant for quite some time.
The poppy has played a prominent role in Western culture. The Assyrians called it the ‘daughter of the fields’, whilst the Greeks regarded it as the flower of Aphrodite, for, according to legend, the poppy sprang from Aphrodite’s tears when she wept over the death of Adonis.
The poppy also featured prominently in medieval witchcraft. The famous physician and alchemist Paracelsus recounts in his works that this herb formed part of the well-known ‘satanic ointment’ which witches applied to their skin; and a Catalan text from 1619 recounts how six women, who were arrested and accused of witchcraft, declared that for their covens they made an ointment composed of poppy, arsenic, snake fat and oleander foam.
In some parts of the Iberian Peninsula, the poppy was part of a children’s game that involved cutting open a closed bud of this plant and trying to guess the colour of the petals developing inside. Before opening it, one would say ‘Chick, hen, cockerel, hen’, and then open the bud: if the petals were red, it was a cockerel; if pink, a hen; and if whitish, a hen.
Etymology: Its generic name (Papaver) comes from Latin and was the word used in Ancient Rome to refer to all poppies. The specific epithet (Rhoeas) appears to be derived from the Greek rhoias (pomegranate), alluding to the red colour of its flowers.
Synonyms: Papaver agrivagum, Papaver caudatifolium, Papaver dodonaei, Papaver fuchsii, Papaver intermedium, Papaver roubiaei, Papaver strigosum, Papaver uniflorum, Papaver arvaticum, Papaver arvense, Papaver atropurpureum, Papaver commutatum, Papaver erraticum, Papaver insignitum, Papaver trilobum, Papaver umbrosum.

Distribution: Native. El Hierro, La Palma, La Gomera, Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote.
Ecosystems: Cardonal-tabaibal, thermophilic forests, fayal-brezal.
Altitude: Usually between 100 and 1,300 metres above sea level.

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