Poppies

We have five different poppies on La Palma.

Papaver rhoeas The red poppy.

The Corn Poppy, Field Poppy, Flanders Poppy, or Red Poppy is easily the commonest. This is the poppy that mostly grows wild in fields.

Eschscholzia Californica , the California Poppy.

The next commonest comes from California, which has a similar climate.

Papaver somniferum, the opium poppy.

And then there’s the opium poppies, which are presumably garden escapes.

Argemone mexicana Mexican prickly poppy.
And finally the prickly yellow poppies, which are an invasive species that come from Mexico. These aren’t nearly as easy to find.

Posted by sheila

Sheila came to La Palma with a six month contract and has stayed 24 years so far. She used to work as a software engineer at the observatory, but now she's a writer and Starlight guide.