poppy, any of several ornamental flowering plants of the poppy family (Papaveraceae), especially species of the genus Papaver, which have lobed or dissected leaves, milky sap, often nodding buds on solitary stalks, and four- to six-petaled flowers with numerous stamens surrounding the ovary. The two sepals drop off as the petals unfold. The ovary develops into a spherical capsule topped by a disk formed by the stigmas. The many small seeds escape from pores beneath the disk when the capsule is shaken by the wind.
Opium, from which morphine, heroin, codeine, and papaverine are derived, comes from the milky latex in the unripe seed capsule of the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum), which is native to Turkey. An annual plant, it bears 12.7-centimetre- (5-inch-) wide pink-to-red (purple) or white flowers on plants 1 to 5 m (about 3 to 16 feet) tall, with lobed or toothed silver-green foliage. The opium poppy is also grown for its nonnarcotic ripe seeds, which are used for seasoning, oil, and birdseed. Red-flowered and double and semidouble strains are garden ornamentals.
About 50 other species of Papaver are grown for their attractive delicate flowers or interestingly cut foliage. The Oriental poppy (P. orientale), native to the Middle East, has 15.2-centimetre scarlet, salmon, pink, white, or red blooms on 1.2-metre-tall, long-lived perennial plants. The white and red or white and pink Shirley poppy is an annual variety developed from the corn poppy (P. rhoeas). The long-headed poppy (P. dubium) is an annual similar to the corn poppy but with narrower, tapering capsules and smaller, paler flowers. The Iceland poppy (P. nudicaule), from Arctic North America, is a short-lived perennial with fragrant white, orange, reddish, or bicoloured 7.6-centimetre flowers that are 30 centimetres tall. The peacock poppy (P. pavoninum), an annual with scarlet petals bearing a dark spot at the base, 2.5-centimetre blooms on 30-centimetre-tall plants, is from Central Asia. The poppy family is well represented in western North America, with at least 13 genera. California is particularly rich in native species. The best known of these is the California poppy (Eschscholzia californica), an annual with brilliant orange-coloured flowers, extensively naturalized in California, Australia, and India.
Other ornamental members of the poppy family include the matilija poppy (Romneya coulteri), with 15.2-centimetre, white, fragrant flowers on a 2.4-metre-tall perennial herbaceous plant, native to southwestern North America; the plume poppies, members of the Oriental genus Macleaya, grown for their giant, interestingly lobed leaves and 2-metre-tall flower spikes; plants of the genus Bocconia, woody, mild-climate shrubs, native to tropical America, prized for their large, cut leaves; the snow poppy (Eomecon chionantha), a perennial from China, with white, cuplike flowers in sprays; and the flaming poppy (Stylomecon heterophylla), a purple-centred, brick-red annual plant from western North America. The genus Meconopsis includes the Welsh poppy.