Geograph - photograph every grid square

Oriental poppies gone wild

Opium poppies growing by the roadside. For a wider view of this location see > Link.

The opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) is an annual herb and one of the most important medicinal plants, native to Southeastern Europe and western Asia; it is cultivated extensively in many countries, including Iran, Turkey, Holland, Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, India, Canada, and many Asian and Central and South American countries and has a tremendous impact on several societies as an opiate. A milky exudation is collected from incisions made in the walls of the green seed pods and the alkaloids are separated when dry. Opium and its derivatives are used in the pharmaceutical industry as narcotic analgesics, hypnotics and sedatives. Opium is used in the production of morphine and codeine, morphine being the raw material from which heroin is obtained. Opium and the drugs derived from it are addictive and can have toxicological effects. Poppy seeds are used as a condiment with baked goods and pastries and poppy oil is widely used for cooking, in the manufacture of paints, varnishes and soaps. Many older homes have opium poppies growing in their gardens.

In 2006 the British government permitted the pharmaceutical company Macfarlan Smith to cultivate opium poppies in England for medicinal reasons in order to meet the high demand for morphine and heroin. Opium poppy cultivation in the United Kingdom does not need a licence but a licence is required for those wishing to extract opium for medicinal products.