THE opium — yielding plant or poppy is an herb about three feet in height; stem of a pale green color covered with a bloom. Branches are spreading, with large, simple, lobed or incised leaves. The flowers are solitary, few in number, quite large and showy. The four large petals are white or a pale pink color in the wild-growing plants. The fruit is a large capsule, one to three inches in diameter, of a depressed globular form. The seeds are small and very numerous, filling the compartments of the capsule. In spite of the general attractiveness of the plant, the size of the flowers and the delicate coloring of its petals, it is not a favorite at close range because of a heavy, nauseating odor which emanates from all parts of the plant, the flowers in particular. The petals furthermore have only a very temporary existence, dropping off at the slightest touch.

The wild ancestor of our familiar garden poppy is supposed to be a native of Corsica, Cyprus, and the Peloponnesian islands. At the present time it is extensively cultivated everywhere, both as an ornamental plant and for its seeds, pods, and yield of opium. It has proven a great nuisance as a weed in the grain fields of England, India, and other countries — something like mustard in the oat fields of the central states. There are a number of forms or varieties of the cultivated poppy. The red poppy, corn poppy, or rose poppy (Papaver Rhoeas) is very abundant in southern and central Europe and in western Asia. It has deep red or scarlet petals and is a very showy plant. The long headed poppy (P. dubium) has smaller flowers of a lighter red color and elongated capsules, hence the name. The Oriental poppy (P. orientale) has very large, deep red flowers on a tall flowerstalk.

Various plants belonging to other genera of the poppy-family (Papave-raceoe) are designated as poppy. The California poppy (Eschscholtzia Californica) is a very common garden plant. It has showy yellow flowers and much divided leaves. Horn poppy (Glaucium luteum) is a rather small seaside plant, with long curved pods and solitary yellow flowers. The Mexican prickly poppy (Argemone Mexicana) is widely distributed. The pods and leaves are prickly, flowers yellow or white; the seeds yield an oil which is used as a cathartic.

Spatling or frothy poppy (Silene inflata) is so-called because when punctured by insects or otherwise it emits a spittle-like froth. Tree poppy (Dendromecon rigidum) is a shrub six to eight feet high, with large, bright yellow flowers. Welsh poppy (Mecanopsis cambrica), a plant found in the wooded and rocky parts of western Europe, has sulphur-yellow flowers and is cultivated for ornament.

The use and cultivation of the poppy dates from very remote times. The plant was well known in the time of the eminent Greek poet Homer, who speaks of the poppy juice as a dispeller of sorrows (Odyssey, IV. l. 220). According to Plinius the word poppy ( Papaver) is derived from papa, meaning pap, the standard food of infants, because poppy juice was aided to it for the purpose of inducing sleep. The ending ver is from verum, meaning true; that is, this food was the true sleep-producing substance. Opium, the inspissated juice of the poppy pods, was apparently not known in the time of Hippocrates, only the freshly expressed juice being used. It is through Diocles Karystius (350 B. C.) that we obtain the, first detailed information regarding the use of opium. Nicandros (150 B. C.) refers to the dangerous effects produced by this drug. Scribonius Largus, Dioscorides, Celsus, and Plinius gave us the first reports regarding the origin, production, and adulteration of opium. Plinius mentions the method of incising the capsules. The Arabians are said to have introduced opium into India. It appeared in Europe during the middle ages, but was apparently in little demand. It was much more favorably received in the Orient. In 1500 it constituted one of the most important export articles of Calcutta. India supplied China with large quantities of opium, at first only for medicinal purposes. It is said that the Chinese acquired the habit of smoking opium about the middle of the seventeenth century, and since then it has ever been the favorite manner of consuming it.

The poppy is cultivated in temperate and tropical countries. The opium yield of plants grown in temperate climates is, however, much less than that of the subtropical and tropical countries, though the quality is about the same. There are large poppy plantations in India, China, Asia Minor, Persia, and Turkey. As already indicated, the white-flowered variety is quite generally cultivated because it yields the most opium.