Subject: Re: Poppy seed

From: Libby Goldstein <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 27 Mar 1995 11:38:30 -0800 (PST)

Your bread poppy is P. somniferum. Don't tell the DEA what you've
done!!!

Libby

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From: [email-masked] (Cynthia Donahey)
Date: 27 Mar 1995 18:21:42 -0500

El Puerco Loco ([email-masked]) wrote:

: the other day i planted some poppy seed (the kind you cook with)
: out of curiosity, and to my surprise, it sprouted. does anyone
: know what species this kind of seed comes from?

: doug

When I did this, I ended up with small, white poppies of no particular
significance.  Seed production was minimal too.  I think they were from
some kind of hybrid. Does anyone know what the poppies grown for seed look
like?

I grow these double poppies - mine are pale pink - they are self-sowing
annuals that breed true from seed. I get a fair amount of seed from each
seed pod. These come in assorted colors. I've seen them in Thompson &
Morgan catalog. I've often thought it would be nice to have a row of these
in a vegetable garden.  They taste just like regular poppy seeds.

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From: [email-masked]
Date: 27 Mar 95 20:48:44 -0600

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (El Puerco Loco) writes:
> 
> the other day i planted some poppy seed (the kind you cook with)
> out of curiosity, and to my surprise, it sprouted. does anyone
> know what species this kind of seed comes from?

It's _Papaver somniferum_, opium poppy, aka breadseed poppy.  Illegal
to grow in the US, and all seed sold is supposed to be beat-treated
to destroy viability.   But much of it isn't properly heat treated,
though you didn't learn it from me...  ;-)

Kay Klier  [email-masked]

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From: [email-masked] (Bob Dickow)
Date: 30 Mar 1995 00:32:25 GMT

> seed pod. These come in assorted colors. I've seen them in Thompson &

These are probably Papaver somniferum 'Paeony flowered hybrids'. I have
the same one...hundreds of them. I got about 2/3 of a pound of seed last
season. The ones that spill give rise to future generations of these
beauties. They have light blue-green smooth semi-glossy leaves. Nice.

BTW, these are opium poppies, but there seems to be some confusion
about the legality of growing these. I got some red variety seeds
from Park's, called 'Oase'.

--

--Bob Dickow ([email-masked])

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From: [email-masked] (Una Smith)
Date: 28 Mar 1995 22:08:51 GMT

[email-masked] (Cynthia Donahey) writes:

>When I [planted culinary poppy seeds], I ended up with small, white
>poppies of no particular significance.  Seed production was minimal too.
>I think they were from some kind of hybrid. Does anyone know what the
>poppies grown for seed look like?

I can't answer this directly.  But I can say that, while most poppies
have dehiscent fruit capsules, those grown for seeds should not open
(dehisce) when mature, lest the seeds be lost.  The characteristic of
"many seeds" is generally not associated with indehiscent fruits, esp.
in a family like Papaveraceae, which includes members that are wind-
and ant-dispersed.  Given low seed production in your garden, you may
well have planted a hybrid that does not breed true.  An agricultural
library (e.g., at your nearest state university) might have technical
books discussing commercial propagation of this family for seeds and
other products.

A semi-informed aside:  I'm told that (some of) the physiologically
habituating anti-diuretics are opiate derivatives, and there's also
papaverine, a drug used in some treatments for "male infertility",
morphine used in hospitals around the world, and (illicitly) heroin.
I would imagine that poppy strains are selected independently under
cultivation for each of these drugs.  By the way, other chemicals in
Papaveraceae's suite of defense compounds are *dangerous*, so don't
experiment with eating poppies (other than the seeds) unless you're
fairly sure that the ones you've got aren't going to make you sick.
I routinely eat (or at least taste) various non-edible plants, but I
am extremely cautious about a few families, including Annonaceae and
Papaveraceae.  In general, a plant that has laticifers (canals with
gummy latex or resin, as poppies do) should not be eaten without due
caution.

-- 
	Una Smith			[email-masked]

Department of Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT  06520-8104  USA

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From: [email-masked] (Bob Dickow)
Date: 30 Mar 1995 00:32:25 GMT

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From: [email-masked] (Una Smith)
Date: 28 Mar 1995 22:08:51 GMT