Corn poppy
Papaver rhoeasPoppy seeds can survive in the soil for decades and sprout when ploughing brings them to light; this is why battlefields suddenly turned red with poppies.
What is Corn poppy?
Corn poppy (Papaver rhoeas) is a plant of the Papaveraceae family. Traditions that use it: Anatolia and the Mediterranean. Part used: petals, young leaves.
What is Corn poppy used for?
Traditional use: Young leaves are gathered as wild greens in spring and fried or baked into börek. Scientific evidence: traditional. The corn poppy is a relative of the opium poppy but contains no morphine; it carries different, much weaker alkaloids such as rhoeadine.
Is Corn poppy safe?
Safety label: generally safe. A small amount as tea is generally considered safe. Poisoning has been reported in animals that ate large amounts of the fresh plant; data for people are lacking. Not for pregnant or breastfeeding women or young children. Do not combine with sedatives.
Traditional use
Young leaves are gathered as wild greens in spring and fried or baked into börek. A tea and syrup of dried petals is used for cough and sleeplessness. Its Turkish name is said to come from its likeness to a bride (gelin) in a red veil.
Poppies blooming in the fields of Flanders in the First World War became, through the Canadian doctor John McCrae’s poem, the symbol of the war dead; in Britain and Canada a poppy is worn in November.
In nature
Mix-up risk
It resembles the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) but is smaller and hairy with deeply divided leaves; the opium poppy has bluish-green leaves that clasp the stem.
Preparation
A teaspoon of dried petals is steeped in a cup of water for 10 minutes. Young leaves are eaten cooked, before flowering.
What science says
The corn poppy is a relative of the opium poppy but contains no morphine; it carries different, much weaker alkaloids such as rhoeadine. Its mild calming and cough-suppressing effect rests on animal studies and tradition; there are no clinical studies in people. In Europe it is added to tea blends mostly for colour.
Safety
A small amount as tea is generally considered safe. Poisoning has been reported in animals that ate large amounts of the fresh plant; data for people are lacking. Not for pregnant or breastfeeding women or young children. Do not combine with sedatives.
Similar plants
Sources
- ResearchVariation of alkaloid contents and antimicrobial activities of Papaver rhoeas L. growing in Turkey and northern Cyprus (Pharm Biol 2017)
- ResearchIdentification and metabolite profiling of alkaloids in aerial parts of Papaver rhoeas (J Sep Sci 2018)
- BookBaytop T. Türkiye’de Bitkiler ile Tedavi: Geçmişte ve Bugün. 3. baskı (yay. haz. F. Baytop Günergun). Ankara: Nobel Tıp Kitabevleri; 2021.
- Botanical recordKew Plants of the World Online: Papaver rhoeas
- Titles of research sources are summarised in Turkish on the Turkish page; links open the original English publications.
Written by Edanaz Tınmazlar · Last reviewed: · Türkçe