Papaver somniferum L., Papaveraceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: ying su

English: common poppy, opium poppy

French: oeillette, pavot somnifère

Spanish: adormidera, amapola, amapola real

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Herbs, annual, 30-60 (-100) cm tall (to 1.5 m in cultivation), glabrous or rarely slightly setose on plant below or on peduncle. Taproot erect, almost conical. Stems erect, glaucous, glabrous, occasionally somewhat setose. Leaves alternate; blade ovate or oblong, 7-25 cm, both surfaces glabrous, glaucous and rather waxy, veins distinct, slightly raised, base cordate, margin irregularly undulate-serrate, apex acuminate to obtuse; leaves below shortly petiolate but above sessile and amplexicaul. Flowers solitary, deeply cup-shaped, 5-12 cm in diameter. Pedicel to 25 cm, glabrous or rarely sparsely setose. Flower buds nutant at first, erect at anthesis, oval-oblong or broadly ovoid, 1.5-3.5 x 1-3 cm, glabrous. Sepals 2, green, broadly ovate, margin membranous. Petals 4, white, pink, red, purple, or various, often with a dark basal blotch, suborbicular or almost flabellate, 4-7 x 3-11 cm, margin undulate or variously lobed. Stamens many; filaments white, linear, 1-1.5 cm; anthers yellowish or cream, oblong, 3-6 mm. Ovary green, spherical, 1-2 cm in diam., glabrous; stigmas 5-12(-18), actinomorphic, united into compressed disk, disk margin deeply divided, lobes crenulate. Capsule brown when mature, spherical or oblong-elliptic, 4-9 x 4-5 cm, glabrous. Seeds many, black or deep gray, adaxially alveolate"  (Flora of China online).

Habitat/ecology:  In the United States, "fields, clearings, stream banks, railroads, roadsides, and other disturbed sites; 0-1300 m"  (Flora of North America online).  In New Zealand, "locally common in disturbed waste land, roadsides, and depleted pasture"  (Webb et al., 1988; p. 933).  "In Chile this species grows in the following environmental conditions:  Low altitude, interior valleys; coastal mountains, 500-2000 m; coastal areas, 0-500 m.  Humid areas, with almost constant rainfall, short dry periods are possible (generally not longer than 1 month); somewhat dry areas where the drought may last 3-5 months, precipitations of 400-800 mm. are concentrated in winter.  Fully exposed to the sun, level areas or slopes facing north"  (Chileflora).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  "Unknown in the wild, Papaver somniferum probably came originally from southeastern Europe and/or southwestern Asia. It has been cultivated for centuries as the source of opium (and its modern derivatives heroin, morphine, and codeine), and also for edible seeds and oil"  (Flora of North America online). 

Canary and Madeira Islands, north Africa, Cyprus, France, Italy, Portugal, Spain; widely cultivated (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia (Pacific offshore islands) Lord Howe Island	Lord Howe Island	introduced invasive	Australian Biological Resources Study (2011) "An occasional escape from cultivation in wasteland".
Australia (Pacific offshore islands) Norfolk Islands	Norfolk Island	introduced invasive	Australian Biological Resources Study (2011) "An occasional escape from cultivation in wasteland".
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced invasive	Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John (2011)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced invasive	Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido (2006) (pp. 461, 465, 556)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Santa Clara	introduced invasive	Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John (2011)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Santa Clara	introduced invasive	Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido (2006) (pp. 461, 465, 556) "La población se desarrolla y se extiende rápidamente". Voucher cited: Danton I(5/339)1682

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	New South Wales	introduced invasive cultivated	National Herbarium of New South Wales (2011) "Both cultivated and weedy forms widespread".
Canada Province of British Columbia	Canada (British Columbia)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)
Canada Canada	Canada (country)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)
Chile (continental) Chile	Chile (Republic of)	introduced cultivated	Belov, Michail (2011)
China China	China (People's Republic of)	introduced cultivated	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011)
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	introduced	Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro (2004) (p. 183)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive	Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. (1988) (p. 933)
Thailand Thailand	Thailand (Kingdom of)	introduced cultivated	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011)
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (Oregon)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (California)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (Washington)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)

Also reported from
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	USA (Florida)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)

Additional information:
Photos and other information from Chileflora.

Additional online information about Papaver somniferum is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Papaver somniferum as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Papaver somniferum may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John. 2011. Naturalized species in the Juan Fernández Archipelago, Chile. Unpublished spreadsheet.

Australian Biological Resources Study. 2011. Flora of Australia Online. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.

Belov, Michail. 2011. Chileflora (online resource).

Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido. 2006. Nouveau catalogue de la flore vaculaire de l'archipel Juan Fernández (Chile) [Nuevo catálogo de la flora vacular del Archipélago Juan Fernández (Chile)]. Acta Bot. Gallica 153(4):399-587.

Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds. 2011. Flora of North America North of Mexico (online edition).

Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro. 2004. Invasive alien species in Japan: the status quo and the new regulation for prevention of their adverse effects. Global Environmental Research 8(2)/2004: 171-191.

National Herbarium of New South Wales. 2011. PlantNet: New South Wales Flora online. The Plant Information Network System of the Botanic Gardens Trust Version 2.0. Online resource.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. 2011. The PLANTS Database. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. 1988. Flora of New Zealand, Volume IV: Naturalised pteridophytes, gymnosperms, dicotyledons. Botany Division, DSIR, Christchurch. 1365 pp.

Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong. 2011. Flora of China (online resource).