Poppy (Papaver rhoeas) Entry (2).
All the escapee poppies in Britain are said to be the progeny of imported Roman plants , the romans found that strains produced in the harsher climate still had pain killing ability without the hallucogenic "side effects".
The part used is the latex from the unripe capsule.Morphine is the main alkaloid along with codeine and thebaine (and a selection of others) .
The total alkaloid extract is known as papaveretum and is now, as in ancient times , used for preop analgesia and relaxation.However P rhoeas is not so strong as its Asian relative but still has anodyne qualities.
This photo is courtesy of Madame Pertinax.
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