Poppy is not only the name of an individual flower, but also of an entire genus of the poppy family. The greatest medicinal value is the sleepy or opium poppy. From it, drugs are obtained that have analgesic, hypnotic, sedative, antitussive and antispasmodic effects.
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Flower formula
Poppy flower formula: Ch2L2+2T∞P(4-20).In medicine
From a medical point of view, the most valuable genus of poppies is the opium poppy or sleeping pill poppy (Papaver somniferum L.). Its milky juice contains alkaloids such as morphine, codeine and papaverine. Morphine drugs are a narcotic analgesic and have a strong analgesic effect. Codeine reduces the excitability of the cough center, therefore it is in demand in antitussive drugs. Papaverine calms spasms of the arteries, smooth muscles of the bronchi and intestines. The self-sown poppy (Papáver rhoeas) is popular in folk medicine. Teas, infusions and decoctions made from it are effective as a mild sedative and analgesic; they are used to relieve coughs, dysentery, indigestion accompanied by diarrhea, and some bladder diseases.
Contraindications and side effects
Side effects from improper dosage or long-term use of drugs derived from both opium poppy and poppy include drowsiness, constipation, nausea, vomiting, problems with urination, and damage to the central nervous system. Different poppy preparations have different contraindications, but, as a rule, they are not prescribed to pregnant women, nursing mothers, children under 2 years of age, the elderly, as well as those suffering from diseases of the respiratory tract, liver, cholelithiasis, diseases of the digestive tract, heart rhythm disorders, suffered brain injuries. Preparations based on poppy alkaloids are also contraindicated for those who have problems with alcohol.
It should be remembered that most drugs produced on the basis of poppy are narcotic substances, which means they can be addictive, lead to drug addiction, which destroys the nervous system, leading to personality disintegration, and sometimes ending in premature death. Opium poppy preparations should be taken only after consultation with your doctor, as prescribed and following the prescribed dosage.
In cooking
Poppy seeds are widely used in the cooking of many nations. They are sprinkled on baked goods - bagels, buns, bagels, bread, added to biscuits and cream. Grind into Indian curry mixtures. Grinded poppy seeds into a paste, mixed with butter, liquid honey or sweetened milk, produces a paste that is used as a filling for various rolls, croissants and pies. Poppy oil is also obtained from poppy seeds, which is suitable for dressing salads, flavoring dough, and frying.
In gardening
Poppy is a magnificent ornamental plant. Gardeners love it for its richness of colors, shapes and sizes, ease of cultivation and hardiness, and pleasant aroma. Poppy is a bright flower that always attracts attention. In floriculture, breeding varieties of oriental poppy (Papaver orientale) are most often used.
In other areas
Poppy oil is a popular cosmetic product rich in vitamin E, essential for the skin. It is added to soaps and moisturizers.
Artists love poppy oil, as they consider paints based on it to be more durable and pigmented. In pharmaceuticals, poppy oil is used to make preparations enriched with iodine.
Classification
Poppy (lat. Papaver) is a genus of plants of the poppy family (lat. Papaveraceae). In total, there are up to 100 species of different poppies in the genus, many of which also have their own subspecies. The most widespread is the self-seeding poppy (lat. Papaver rhoeas) - a malicious weed and at the same time a popular drug in folk medicine. In pharmacology, the soporific poppy (lat. Papaver somniferum L.) is used. Russian scientists have identified 8 subspecies of this poppy species, differing in morphological and economic characteristics.
Botanical description
Plants of the poppy genus are annual, biennial, and perennial herbs that secrete milky sap. Their stem is often developed, but there are also stemless poppies. The leaves of poppies are pinnately dissected, hairy-bristly, and less often glabrous. The flowers are solitary, large, often painted in various shades of scarlet; they can be white, orange, purple, pink, lilac and even yellow. The formula of the poppy flower is CH2L2+2T∞P(4-20). The fruit is a single-locular capsule, both cylindrical and club-shaped, spherical and ovoid.
Soporific poppy (Papaver somniferum L.) is an annual plant, its bluish-green erect stem reaches 150 cm in height. The root of poppy somniferous is taproot, slightly branched, goes underground 15-20 cm in depth. The basal leaves are collected in a rosette, the stem leaves are broadly elliptic, ovate or oblong-ovate, sharp-toothed, stem-embracing, the apical leaves of poppy somniferous are broadly ovate, serrated along the edge. Large flowers are located at the top of the stem; from one to ten flowers bloom on each plant, depending on the number of branches. The buds are drooping before the flowers open, but before the flower opens, they straighten out. The calyx consists of two leathery sepals; they fall off when the flower opens. The corolla of poppy somnifera is four-petalled with round or broadly ovate petals, red, white, pink or purple. There is an “eye” at the base of the petals. The stamens are numerous, with purple or light filaments and yellow oblong anthers. The pistil has a unilocular superior ovary. The stigma of the opium poppy remains on the fruit; it is sessile, star-shaped, with rays connected to form a monolithic disk. The fruit is a capsule up to 7 cm long and up to 3 cm wide, with numerous small seeds. Opium poppy varieties have white or light yellow seeds, while oilseed varieties have black, blue, and gray seeds. Self-seeded poppy (Papaver rhoeas) is an annual or biennial plant from 30 to 80 cm in height. The flowers of this type of poppy are oval or round, purple, red, pink or white with a black “eye”, the threads of the stamens are black or red. The boll of self-seeded poppy is spherical or broadly obovate, up to 3 cm long. There are up to 50 thousand seeds in a boll of this variety of poppy and they remain viable for years.
Spreading
Poppies bloom throughout most of the world. They can be found in Eurasia, Africa and North America.
Western Asia is considered the birthplace of the sleeping pill poppy. In the wild, it is found in southern Europe, Africa, on the island of Cyprus, and also in the Azores. In Russia, the soporific poppy is cultivated mainly in the Kuibyshev, Ulyanovsk and Voronezh regions. This crop requires fertile soils with good physical properties.
Samosa poppy thrives in Central, Eastern and Southern Europe, North Africa and Western Asia, the Caucasus and North America. It prefers sandy-loamy soils with good drainage and sunny places, but can also grow on rocky slopes.
Regions of distribution on the map of Russia.
Procurement of raw materials
Soporific poppy is prepared in the form of opium from opium varieties, seeds and pods freed from them - from oilseeds. Opium is the thickened milky sap of a plant, collected 10-20 days after the plant has flowered, when the capsule becomes elastic. It is cut many times with special knives with two or three blades. The cuts are usually made from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the opium is collected early the next morning, around 5 a.m. After two days, the procedure is repeated. Each box can be cut another 2 to 6 times. The seeds are collected when they begin to “rustle” in the boxes, and the boxes themselves turn brown. If the purpose of collection is boxes, from which morphine is subsequently obtained, then they are collected mature, about two weeks after the poppy has flowered.
The petals of the self-sown poppy serve as medicinal raw materials. They are collected immediately after flowering and dried until discolored. The pharmaceutical name of the resulting raw material is Rhoeados flos.
Chemical composition
Various researchers count up to 26 alkaloids in poppy juice. Most of all, the plant contains morphine; there is also a sufficient amount of narcotine, codeine, narpeine and papaverine. In total, opium contains up to 30% alkaloids. In addition to them, it contains protein, water, rubber, sugar, mucus, wax and resin. Poppy seeds contain up to 52% oil.
Pharmacological properties
In official medicine, only raw materials obtained from the sleeping pill poppy are used. Its pharmacological properties are associated with some alkaloids it contains, primarily morphine. This alkaloid affects the central nervous system, reducing pain sensitivity, it inhibits the thalamic region, impedes the transmission of pain impulses, acts as a hypnotic for insomnia due to pain, reduces the excitability of the respiratory, vomiting and cough centers, inhibits motor function and secretory activity of the stomach and intestines. Under the influence of morphine, the threshold of pain sensitivity increases, the emotional reaction to pain is weakened, fear and pain are reduced, and euphoria occurs. When combined with other narcotic hypnotics and local anesthetics, morphine enhances their effect.
Repeated and prolonged use of morphine causes morphinism - a painful addiction to the drug. It is accompanied not only by profound mental disorders, but also by pathological changes in internal organs.
Morphine has a number of side effects: disturbances in cardiac rhythm, digestive functions, constipation, nausea and vomiting. They are removed with one-time doses of anticholinergic drugs.
Another important alkaloid obtained from the opium poppy and which has become the basis for many drugs is codeine. Like morphine, it is a narcotic analgesic, but with weaker analgesic properties and its side effects are milder. Therapeutic doses of codeine do not lead to depression of respiration and cardiac activity, or the functions of the gastrointestinal tract, while the ability of the alkaloid to inhibit the cough center is not only preserved, but is also more pronounced. Therefore, drugs based on it are used mainly for coughs.
The sleeping pill papaverine, which has myotropic and antispasmodic properties, is also synthesized from poppy seeds. Papaverine increases the volumetric velocity of coronary blood flow and prevents spasm of coronary vessels, and has a calming effect on the central nervous system.
Therapeutic effect
Morphine is used as a strong analgesic for various diseases, inflammatory processes and traumatic injuries. It is prescribed to persons with malignant tumors, intestinal and renal colic, myocardial infarction, to relieve severe pain. It also acts as a pain reliever in preparation for operations and in the postoperative period. Morphine is sometimes prescribed to people with acute heart failure to relieve the side effects of coughing and shortness of breath. The analgesic properties of morphine allow patients to endure extremely painful procedures associated with X-ray examinations of the stomach, duodenum and gallbladder.
Codeine is used to calm a cough. In complex therapy, in combination with analgin, amidopyrine or phenobarbital and caffeine, codeine is prescribed for neuralgia and headaches.
Papaverine is used in drugs that are effective for hypertension, angina pectoris, migraines and other spasmodic phenomena of blood vessels, bronchial asthma, and spasms of the smooth muscles of the abdominal organs.
Use in folk medicine
In modern folk medicine, the medicinal properties of the poppy (Papaver rhoeas) are more often used. A tincture of its petals is taken for insomnia, cough, rapid heartbeat, fever, treats diarrhea and involuntary urination, and is taken for tracheitis and bronchitis. It has a calming, mild analgesic and hypnotic effect, as well as an astringent, expectorant and diaphoretic. Crushed petals are used externally as a hemostatic agent. An extract from the seeds of this species is considered an effective antitumor agent.
Other types of poppy are also used. A decoction of poppy seeds relieves ear and toothache and helps improve digestion. A decoction of poppy roots was given for inflammation of nerve connections and for headaches. Young inflorescences and unripe seeds were squeezed out, and the resulting juice was digested and used as a sedative, hypnotic, relaxant and analgesic, and used to treat bronchitis. Poppy leaves were steamed, ground and used as a compress to get rid of warts, cure bruises, tumors, and sore joints. For the same purpose, green unripe heads of the plant were crushed and used. Poppy also enjoyed the fame of an anthelmintic.
Historical reference
Scientists date the appearance of poppies to 5000 BC. Images of its flowers can be found on the walls of Egyptian tombs. In Greek mythology, the poppy was closely associated with Demeter, the goddess of fertility and agriculture, as well as with Hypnos, the god of sleep, the latter even had to lay poppies on the altar. Homer in his “Odyssey” wrote about poppy as a drug that can dull mental pain. He describes how Helen mixes poppy juice into the wine of Telemachus, who is suffering from the inability to find his father. In the East, poppy seed tea was served at funerals to soothe grief.
The great healers of antiquity more than once described the healing properties of poppy. Hippocrates was one of the first to write about methods of extracting and using opium. He characterized it as a sleeping pill and narcotic. According to Galen, opium should be used for chronic headaches, dizziness, epilepsy, deafness, asthma and cough, colic and jaundice, leprosy and melancholy, eye diseases and pneumonia. Opium was one of the first antidepressants.
In the 16th century, significant progress was made in the processing of opium. The famous healer Paracelsus came up with laudanum - an alcoholic tincture of morphine. The original composition, however, among other things, also contained crushed pearls, frog caviar and henbane extract. At the beginning of the 19th century, they learned to extract morphine from opium, and at the end - heroin.
For a long time, doctors were blissfully unaware; they had no idea about possible drug addiction or the side effects of opiate drugs. Laudanum was given to infants to relieve colic, older children and adults were prescribed it for coughs and diarrhea, and women took laudanum for menstrual pain. Morphine attracted bohemians. Under his influence, Elizabeth Browning, Lewis Carroll, Charles Baudelaire, Thomas de Quincey wrote, Berlioz created his symphonies, and this is not a complete list. But while giving inspiration to creators, opium took too much in return, enslaving its connoisseurs. The healers themselves became addicted to opiates. The story told by Mikhail Bulgakov in the novel “Morphine” is not only autobiographical, but also very typical of that time. It was possible to gain a more complete understanding of the healing and destructive properties of opium drugs only in the middle of the 20th century.
Literature
1. “Botanical-pharmacognostic dictionary”, edited by K.F. Blinova. and Yakovleva G.P., Moscow, Higher School, 1990 - 208 p.
2. Turova A.D., Sapozhnikova E.N., “Medicinal plants of the SSR and their use,” fourth edition, Moscow, Medicine - 54-56 p.
3. “Atlas of Medicinal Plants of the USSR”, edited by N.V. Tsitsin, Moscow, State Publishing House of Medical Literature, 1962-330-333 p.
4. “Medicinal plants” Reference manual edited by N.I. Grinkevich., Moscow, Higher School, 1991 - 190 p.
5. Mishenin I.D. “Medicinal plants and their use”, sixth edition, Minsk, Science and Technology, 1975, 165-166 p.
6. “Encyclopedic Dictionary of Medicinal, Essential Oil and Poisonous Plants” edited by Ogolovets G.S., Moscow, State Publishing House of Agricultural Literature, 1951 - 218-220 pp.
Description of poppy. The poppy stem is branched, 30-80 cm high. The stem is covered with small hairs. Poppy leaves are green, pinnately dissected, and may be bare or covered with small bristly hairs. Poppy flowers are large and solitary, located on long peduncles. The color of poppy flowers is usually red, but can be yellow, white or pale pink. The poppy fruit is an oblong cylindrical or spherical capsule with nests in which poppy seeds are placed. The capsule is smooth, about 2 cm in size. There are a lot of seeds in a poppy capsule. The seeds are small and fall out of the capsule when ripe. Poppy blooms from April to June, poppy fruits ripen in August – September. Poppy seeds remain viable for several years.
Composition and beneficial properties of poppy. The milky juice of the opium poppy contains organic acids, poppy acids, fatty substances, gum, alkaloids: morphine, thebaine, codeine, narcotine, papaverine and many others.
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| The photo shows a poppy bud | The photo shows a large poppy bud |
Poppy in medicine. As a medicinal plant, poppy has been known since ancient times. Opium is used to make painkillers, sedatives and sleeping pills. The use of opium causes an intoxicating effect, pain disappears, the sensitivity of the nervous system dulls, and the brain becomes clouded. Regular use of opium causes addiction, which is difficult to get rid of.
Poppy in cooking. In cooking, poppy seeds are used for baking, for example, making buns with poppy seeds.
Growing poppies. Poppy is grown using seeds sown in the fields. Poppy is grown as an ornamental plant, it can grow and reproduce on its own as a weed, and poppy is also grown to produce opium.
Harvesting and storing poppy seeds. Poppy seeds are harvested, as well as opium - the milky juice of the poppy. Poppy seeds are used for baking. Opium is considered a narcotic drug. In medicine, drugs are made from opium.
About poppy. Red poppy is a beautiful fiery flower.
Opium poppy is a source for obtaining narcotic drugs. Opium is obtained from unripe poppy pods. Opium is the thickened milky juice of the poppy. Unripe poppy pods are cut and opium is obtained from them.
Below on the website page you can view and download photos of beautiful red poppies.
Photo of red poppies
Among poppy plants, annual and perennial herbs predominate (shrubs and even trees are less common).
A characteristic feature of the family is the presence in the tissues of stems and leaves of milky vessels, which contain white or orange juice. Poppy leaves are usually alternate (rarely opposite), there are no stipules, and the surface of the leaf blades and petioles is bluish. The flowers are sometimes very large, solitary (in poppy) or collected in racemose inflorescences, regular or zygomorphic in many representatives. It is more convenient to study the structure of flowers using special examples, to which we will move on.
Poppy self-seeding(Papaver rhoeas) (Fig. 94) is an annual plant, widely distributed in crops, fallow lands, and along roads in steppe regions and is well known for its large and bright flowers. In more northern areas (forest zone), it is often bred, as is the soporific poppy (P. somniferum).
Article about red poppy
For work, it is necessary to prepare herbarium samples of poppies, mature bolls and flowers for analysis. Flowers are collected in buds before they open, so that they also have sepals, because they fall off at the moment the corolla opens. Store the material in alcohol.
Rice. 94. Poppy family. Self-seeded poppy (Papaver rhoeas): 1 - tip of flowering shoot; 2 - pestle; 3 - cross section of the ovary; 4 - box; 5 - seed; 6 — seed in section; 7 - diagram of a poppy flower; 8 - cruciferous flower diagram
Examining a herbarium specimen of a poppy, we note that the plant is covered with horizontally protruding, harsh hairs, that its leaves are alternate, dissected, and the slender stem ends at the top with a flower, usually red, less often pink or white.
Then we take a poppy bud and begin to analyze it. The flower has two sepals, which in the bud tightly overlap each other with their edges and together form a kind of cap. The sepals separate from below and gradually fall off as the petals unfold. We can verify this if we press the needles on the top of the bud, slightly pulling back the sepals. They will come off and we should remove them.
Carefully unfold the petals. They are crumpled in the bud, and this bud formation is called irregularly folded. Unfolding the corolla, we note that the petals are located in two circles of two petals each (2 + 2). At the base of their petals, they usually have dark (sometimes almost black) spots. Then we will be struck by the huge number of stamens in the flower. This feature brings poppy plants closer to polycarpids. The filaments of the stamens are thin, reddish in color, and at their top there are dark gray anthers. The central part of the flower is occupied by a barrel-shaped pistil. A star-shaped stigma is placed at its top. In the bud, as we see, the stigma lobes are still pressed to the ovary and their edges overlap each other. The stigma can be removed entirely, like a shield, which is what we should do, only carefully so as not to crush the ovary. Turning the stigma towards us with the inner side, we will see that it is the result of the fusion of individual lobes, as evidenced by the sutures - scars converging at the top of it. Examining the stigma from the upper side, we note that the perceiving surfaces in the form of two rows of close hair-like papillae on each also run radially in the middle of each of its blades. (On mature bolls, these hair-like projections grow to the size of scales.) Putting the stigma aside, consider the ovary. To do this, cut it crosswise just above the middle, first removing the petals and stamens. The ovary was formed as a result of the fusion of many carpels and appears multilocular. Let's take a closer look at the partitions of the nests, pushing them apart with needles. We will see that these partitions do not close with each other in the center and, therefore, are not complete partitions. On these partitions there are many seeds, and they thus represent the overgrown placenta of each of the carpels that together formed the ovary of the poppy. Consequently, the poppy has a unilocular ovary, with walled placenta. Now let's recalculate the number of septa of the ovary and the number of stigma lobes and note that they are equal to each other. This means that the number of stigmas corresponds to the number of fused carpels. Let's compare the results of our calculations with each other and make sure that they will be different, fluctuating in our species between 8 - 16. In general, in poppy the number of carpels can be from four to twenty.
The poppy fruit is a capsule. Let's take a mature box, examine it and note that it opens with holes that are located at the top of it under the stigma lobes. The seeds are formed in huge quantities, they are small, and their endosperm contains oil, which is used for both confectionery and technical purposes (oil is classified as quickly drying).
The milky juice of the poppy (unripe) contains a large number of alkaloids, of which morphine and codeine are of great medical importance. The seeds also contain alkaloids and are used in the confectionery industry.
Poppy pollination is carried out by insects that take pollen from it, which is why we did not find nectaries in its flowers.
So, in poppy flowers the androecium and gynoecium are characterized by an even larger and completely indefinite number of their parts, while the perianth already consists of two-membered circles. However, in poppies, other relationships of flower members are also observed.
Great celandine(Chelidonium majus) (Fig. 95) will serve us as an example of poppies, the structure of the fruit of which brings this family closer to cruciferous plants.
Rice. 95. Poppy family. Greater celandine (Chelidonium majus): 1 - part of the shoot with flowers and fruits; 2 - bud with detachable sepals; 3 - androecium and gynoecium; 4 - stamens; 5 - mature fruit; separated placenta are visible; 6 - cross section of the fetus; 7 - seed with crown; 8 - flower diagram
Celandine grows on humus, rich soil in shady places, so it is usually found in parks and gardens along fences, in ravines and bushes. Celandine blooms from May to autumn, and it is easy to collect its flowers and fruits. When collecting material for the herbarium, it is necessary, while it is still fresh, to make several cuts on the stem so that the leaked and dried yellow milky juice can be seen later in class.
Examining herbarium specimens, flowers and fruits, we note:
1) large bluish pinnate leaves, the petioles of which (like the stem) are pubescent;
2) orange or yellow milky juice flowing from all parts of the plant. This juice is poisonous and when fresh it emits a strong odor. Celandine is a medicinal plant;
3) small (compared to poppy) yellow flowers, collected in umbrella-shaped inflorescences;
4) a calyx that falls off just as early as that of a poppy, which is easy to detect by comparing a bud and a blossoming flower.
The calyx consists of two leaves, but sometimes there are three (Fig. 95, 2);
5) bright yellow petals, four in number, located in two circles (2 + 2);
6) numerous stamens, the filaments of which are often ribbon-like expanded (Fig. 95, 4), and at the apex they bear narrow anthers, separated by a flat, wide ligament. Leaf-like expanded stamen filaments are regarded as signs of primitive flower organization;
7) pistil with a long ribbed ovary, a short style and an almost bifid stigma. To get acquainted with the internal structure of the ovary, let’s cut it across, put it in the field of view of a magnifying glass and examine it. The ovary is unilocular and has no partitions inside. Along its walls, ovules are located on scar-like placenta. This ovary consists of two fused carpels. The fruit of the celandine is a pod-shaped capsule, which differs from the pod in the absence of a transverse partition, i.e., in that it is single-locular. It opens with two doors. Compare poppy flower formulas:
and celandine:
8) seeds are numerous, brown, with a mesh pattern on the shell. A white juicy appendage is visible at the base of the seed stalk. It is called a crown (caruncula) and serves as a bait for ants that spread celandine seeds. We will see all this if we open a mature capsule and examine the seeds with a magnifying glass (Fig. 95, 7).
Haller's Corydalis(Corydalis halleri) (Fig. 96) is an example of a poppy with zygomorphic flowers. This is an early spring plant, usually falling into the category of "snowdrops". Our species is widespread and available throughout almost the entire European part of the USSR. In April - May it is necessary to collect material for work, selecting specimens in flowers and fruits. Flowers for analysis should be prepared separately and stored in alcohol. When collecting material for a herbarium, one must keep in mind that the corydalis (like most other species of this genus) has root tubers underground, which sit quite deep (20 - 30 cm) and on a very thin stem.
When studying a herbarium specimen of Corydalis, it is necessary to note:
1) a tuber attached to a stem deep underground;
2) bluish, tender, usually double-triple leaves, with blunt blades;
3) an inflorescence of pink-violet flowers, sitting one at a time in the axil of comb-cut bracts. The flowers are irregular, with a spur, protruding and slightly hooked at the end. There are two sepals, they are small and fall off early.
Rice. 96. Poppy family. Haller's Corydalis (Corydalis halleri): 1 - appearance of the plant; 2 - tuber in section; 3 - flower; 4 - unfolded flower; 5 - one of the stamens; -pestle; 7 - fruit; 8 - seed. Smoker (Fumaria): 9 - fruit; 10 - diagram of a corydalis flower
Now we should get acquainted with the structure of a flower. Having placed the flower on the magnifying table, bend it back and examine the spur in its upper part. We will see that it is formed by one petal of the outer circle, the second petal (lower) looks like a lip. The two petals of the inner circle (lateral) are regular in shape and both are identical; pressing close to each other, they closed the stamens. As a result, the flower of the corydalis is zygomorphic (Fig. 96, 3, 4).
Separating the petals, we will see the stamens. At first glance, there seem to be only two of them. But, looking closely, we will see that at the top of each stamen there are three anthers: the middle anther is normal, four-locular, and the two lateral ones, sitting on special short filaments, are two-locular, i.e. half-locular. The origin of such extraordinary stamens is explained as follows.
In the corydalis, four stamens are formed in a flower bud, but then the two stamens of the inner circle split, their halves diverge, approach the stamens of the outer circle from both sides and grow to them. As a result, the corydalis has only two stamens, each of which has a normal middle anther, and the lateral ones - halves.
The middle of the flower is occupied by a pistil with a large capitate stigma. Having cut the ovary crosswise, we see that, like that of celandine, it is single-lobed and multi-seeded. The fruit is the same pod-shaped capsule. The corydalis spur collects nectar, which is secreted by glands located only at the base of the stamen bundle located above the spur.
In conclusion, let’s compare the flower diagrams of the representatives of the poppy family we studied: poppy, celandine, and corydalis. These diagrams will reflect the process of flower development within the family. This process goes in the direction of reducing the number of stamens, carpels and ovules, towards the development of zygomorphy and adaptations to pollination only by certain groups of long-proboscis, nectar-sucking insects (spurs, two-lipped corollas). Finally, looking at the diagrams of Celandine and Corydalis flowers, we see that the changes in their gynoecium and androecium make the transition from the Poppy to the next family, the Cruciferae, very natural.
Oriental poppy
Poppy family– Papaveraceae
Oriental poppy— Papaver orientale L. 1753
Why is it listed in the Red Book?
Global Threat Category on the IUCN Red List
Not included in the IUCN Red List.
Category according to IUCN Red List criteria
The regional population belongs to the Critically Endangered rarity category - CR D; T. V. Akatova.
Brief morphological characteristics
Peduncles are long, thick, almost white with pressed bristles. Drooping buds. Flowers without bracts or with 1–2 non-combate bracts. The flower petals are 4–6, round, up to 9 cm long, orange-fiery red with a black square spot above the base, the filaments of the stamens are dark. Stigma with 11–15 rays. The capsule is gray, glabrous, 2–3 cm long. Decorative. 2n=28 .
Spreading
General range: Southwest Asia(northwestern Iran, Türkiye); Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia).
Russia: North Caucasus: QC; KCR (Mount Zakan on the border with KK); Dagestan (upper reaches of the rivers Akhty-Chay, Samur, Kara-Samur, Arakul, Kurakh).
Krasnodar region: Belo-Labinsky district (southern slope of the Sergiev Gai ridge in the valley of the Umpyrka river).
Features of biology, ecology and phytocenology
Blooms in June – July. Propagated by seeds. Xeromesophyte, heliophyte. Prefers gravelly slopes with southern exposure. It grows in steppe clearings of the upper forest belt, in the upper forest zone (in pine forests).
Number and its trends
The number has decreased significantly in recent decades. In the 80–90s of the twentieth century.
Poppy flower: meaning, description. Garden flowers poppies
species not noted. Location in KK on the ridge. Sergiev Gai confirmed in 1999 and 2003. Found in small isolated groups of 1–3 individuals.
Limiting factors
Climate change, reduced competitiveness on the northern border of the range, overgrowing of clearings as a result of restorative successions, disturbance of habitats and collection of flowering plants during recreation.
Security measures
It is protected on the territory of the KSPBZ, but is found only in isolated habitats located in a limited area within one ridge. It was included in the Red Book of the RSFSR (status 3(R) - “Rare species”). Cultivated in many botanical gardens. It is necessary to monitor the state of populations, strict adherence to the reserve regime, the creation of a protective zone of the reserve along its borders, and strict regulation of recreational activities in the valley of the river. Umpyrki
Sources of information: Red Book of the Krasnodar Territory
1. Grossheim, 1950; 2. Flora of Eastern Europe, 2001; 3. Popov, 1937; 4. CSR; 5. Golgotha, 1988; 6. Timukhin, 2002a; 7. Mikheev, 1988f; 8. Personal communication, N. L. Lukyanova; 9. Personal communication, A. S. Zernov; 10. Compiler's data. Compiled by T. V. Akatova; rice. S. A. Litvinskaya.
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INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………………….…3
CHAPTER 1. Main part……………………………………………………..5
1.1 General characteristics of the poppy family…………………………….5
1.2 Features of the preparation and storage of raw materials containing alkaloids...8
CHAPTER 2. Medical use of MPAs of the poppy family………………….9
2.1 Common celandine………………………………………………………..…9
2.2 Soporific poppy………………………………………………………………………………18
2.3 Yellow machyok………………………………………………………………………………25
2.4 Macleay cordate……………………………………………….…..28
CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………….…31
REFERENCES………………………………………………………32
APPLICATIONS………………………………………………………………………………33
INTRODUCTION
RELEVANCE OF THE TOPIC
Medicinal plants play a significant role in healthcare today; their share in the arsenal of medicines is quite large. Scientific research is constantly being conducted in the field of studying old and discovering new medicinal plants; These studies led to a number of very important discoveries for humanity. There is every reason to think that in the future, at least in the near future, the role of medicinal plants will not decrease, but, on the contrary, will increase. And no matter how bright the prospects of chemistry are, no matter what miracles we expect from our laboratories and factories, the modest plants of our forests and fields will serve humanity for a long time. One of the most important sources of raw materials for the chemical-pharmaceutical industry and pharmacies are numerous medicinal plants used to treat various diseases.
Among the many remedies used in scientific and traditional medicine, the most important are medicines made from various plants. No wonder there was a saying in ancient medicine: “The doctor has three tools: the word, the plant and the knife.” And indeed, despite the significant progress of modern medicine, despite its annual enrichment with more and more new methods of medical care for the patient, few treatments can be done without herbal medicines.
Medicines from plants can and should serve the noble cause of combating various chronic diseases of the heart, blood vessels, stomach, intestines, kidneys, liver, bronchi, skin diseases, etc.
GOALS
1. Give a general description of the family
2. Study medicinal plants of the poppy family.
3. Give a detailed assessment of the medicinal plant used in medical practice.
4. Familiarize yourself with the use of medicinal raw materials in medicine.
TASKS
1. Analyze in detail the spectrum of action and indications for the use of medicinal plant raw materials in medicine.
2. Consider representatives of the poppy family. Get acquainted with the range of drugs based on these plants.
3. Study the list of literary sources on this course work.
4. Formulate a conclusion.
CHAPTER 1. MAIN PART
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE POPPY FAMILY
Poppy family PAPAVERACEAE.
The poppy family includes about 45 genera and up to 700 species, distributed mainly in the northern temperate zone. Representatives of the poppy family, regardless of the climate zone in which they are found, often prefer places with insufficient moisture. Most often they grow in steppes, semi-deserts and deserts. In the Arctic and highlands, where the degree of moisture is much higher, poppies most often settle on dry hillocks, on rocky slopes with well-drained soils.
At the same time, the family also contains plants from more humid habitats.
Poppy leaves are simple, alternate or the uppermost ones are almost opposite or whorled, without stipules. The basal leaves often form a dense rosette. The shape of the leaf blade is very diverse.
Poppy flowers are sometimes collected in terminal inflorescences. However, most members of the family have solitary flowers on long, erect, leafless peduncles, bisexual, actinomorphic or, less commonly, zygomorphic. The flowers have a variety of colors and sizes. All poppies have a calyx consisting of 2 or 3 sepals. In some cases, before flowering begins, it forms a closed container in which there are wrinkled, tiled petals of the bud. This is observed in all poppies and related genera. The buds most often droop before flowering.
The corolla of poppy flowers, if present, consists of 4, 6 or 8-12 (up to 16) petals arranged in two circles. The petals of the outer and inner circles are whole, without nectaries, and do not differ from each other in shape and size. Sometimes the petals of the inner circle are somewhat smaller, as is the case, for example, with celandine.
The stamens are most often numerous, rarely 6-12, very rarely 4. Most poppy stamens have free stamens. Anthers extruded; are opened longitudinally. Pollen is tricolpate, scattered multicolpate or multiporate.
Detailed description of poppy and its types
The exine is granular, reticulate or tuberculate.
The gynoecium is paracarpous, with 2 or 3-20 carpels. Carpels are numerous. The ovary is superior or almost semi-inferior, unilocular or pseudomultilocular.
The vast majority of members of the poppy family are insect-pollinated plants. As mentioned, most poppies have large flowers with abundant pollen. The anthers in a flower usually mature before the ovary, which ensures cross-pollination. Pollen, produced in huge quantities, is poured onto the petals. This attracts many insects, especially flies and small bugs. At the same time, relatively heavy insects - bumblebees and beetles - prefer to land on a kind of landing platform - wide sessile stigmas, such as those of poppies. In addition, the flowers of poppies and some other species are used by many beetles and flies as a night shelter from the cold. Under unfavorable conditions, self-pollination can occur in many poppies. This is well known from the example of poppy species and some other plants.
The most common type of fruit in poppies is a dry capsule of a round or pod-shaped form. When dry, the round box of poppies either cracks or opens with pores in the upper part. Celandine has thin, pod-like boxes that open with valves or break into segments. The seeds of most poppies are small, with abundant oily endosperm and a small, poorly differentiated embryo, octahedral or round in shape, often with appendages.
Poppy plants are divided into 2 subfamilies: Papaveroideae and Hypecoideae. Previously, the poppy family also included the subfamily Fumarioideae, which is now separated into a separate family.
The poppy subfamily, consisting of 26 genera and more than 450 species, is the largest in volume. Of its members, the most widespread and best known genus is the poppy (Papaver).
Representatives of the poppy family contain numerous and varied alkaloids - isoquinoline derivatives. The names of these substances - papaverine, adlumine, bicuculline, glaucine, fumarin, etc. - clearly indicate the sources of raw materials. The medicinal properties of poppy seeds have been known for a long time. Medicinal properties widely used in folk medicine.
All poppies are very decorative. Many of them have long been introduced into garden culture.
Due to their decorative properties, wild representatives of the poppy family are being intensively exterminated. Several species from this family, growing in Russia, are included in the Red Book.
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Representatives of the Poppy family
The poppy family includes about 45 genera and up to 700 species, distributed mainly in the northern temperate zone. Representatives of the Poppy family, regardless of the climate zone in which they are found, often prefer places with insufficient moisture. Most often they grow in steppes, semi-deserts and deserts. In the Arctic and highlands, where the degree of moisture is much higher, poppies most often settle on dry hillocks, on rocky slopes with well-drained soils. At the same time, the family also contains plants from more humid habitats.
Within the family, there is a wide variety of life forms: from herbaceous annuals and perennials, which make up the vast majority, to shrubs and even small trees. Some species are vines. They have a thin, twisting stem, up to 3 m long, clinging to support with the help of curly leaf petioles.
The largest genus of the family is Poppy (Papaver), which includes about 120 species. These are perennials and annuals with large, brightly colored flowers.
Classification
Domain: Eukaryotes
Kingdom: Plants
Department: Flowers
Class: Dicotyledons
Order: Ranunculaceae
Family: Poppy
Poppy (lat. Papaver) is a genus of herbaceous plants of the Poppy family (Papaveraceae). The milky sap of poppies is called “opium,” which is translated from Greek as “poppy juice.” Annual, biennial and perennial herbs, usually with a developed stem, less often stemless. Plants secrete a milky sap that is white, yellow or orange. The leaves are usually once-or twice-thrice-pinnately dissected, glabrous or more often hairy-bristly.
The flowers are large, solitary, usually red (white or yellow are less common), on long peduncles, or (in stemless species) pedicels, without bracts, in some species - in a paniculate inflorescence. Stamens are usually numerous, with thin or club-shaped filaments at the top; anthers from round to linear, occasionally with a capitate appendage on the connective tissue. Ovary of 3–22 carpels, most often 4–10. Flowers are pollinated by insects, and in some species self-pollination is possible.
The fruit is a capsule, short-cylindrical, club-shaped, oblong, obovate or spherical, sessile or suddenly narrowed into a short stalk, unilocular; the placenta protrudes inward in the form of thin plates; covered on top by a pyramidal, convex or flat disk, the antiplacental rays of which are usually connected by a membranous or leathery membrane into a monolithic disk. The box opens through pores, directly under the disc. The seeds are small, cellular-mesh, without an appendage.
Poppy. Poisonous plant for animals
Ripe seeds are thrown over a long distance as a result of a sharp bursting of the capsule. They can also spill out of the openings of the box in the wind, like salt from a salt shaker.
Poppy is found in temperate, subtropical and less often in cold zones; most poppies grow in dry places - steppes, semi-deserts, deserts, dry rocky mountain slopes. There are about 75 species in Russia and neighboring countries, mainly in the Caucasus and Central Asia. The most common species are the self-seeded poppy (Papaver rhoeas L.), growing as a weed in fields and along roads, the oriental poppy (Papaver orientale L.) - in the forest and subalpine belts of the mountains of the southern part of Transcaucasia, and the bare-stemmed poppy (Papaver nudicaule L.) - in the steppes of Altai, Eastern Siberia and Central Asia, in many countries the soporific or opium poppy (Papaver somniferum L.) has been cultivated for thousands of years.
Description of some types
Papaver alpinum L. – Alpine poppy. P. alpinum grows in the mountains of Europe, from the Alps to the Caucasus. Its leaves are grayish-green, long-petioled, twice or thrice dissected into small segments, and collected in a basal rosette. A bare, erect peduncle rises from it, bearing at the end, at a height of 10-15 cm, a single flower with a diameter of up to 5 cm. The fruit contains a large number of seeds, which spill out through the holes under the stigma. There are two subspecies: ssp. burseri with large white flowers and ssp. kerneri with yellow or orange-yellow flowers. These undemanding plants, decorative not only with large flowers, but also with finely dissected leaves, successfully develop in a gorge, on a scree, in crushed limestone soil in a sunny place.
Fig.1. Alpine poppy (lat. Papaver alpinum L.)
Perennial herbaceous plant. Forms dense clumps. The stems are straight, 10-15 cm high. The leaves are strongly pinnately cut, narrow, bluish-green, collected in a basal rosette. The flowers are solitary, on the tips of the stems; up to 5 cm in diameter; pink, red, yellow or white. It blooms in May-June for more than two months. Gives self-seeding. Cultivated as an ornamental plant. Ideal for alpine slides. Suitable for growing in pots.
Papaver argemone L. – Argemone poppy. An annual herbaceous plant up to 40 cm tall. The stem is often branched from the base, with sparse appressed setae, and green. Basal leaves up to 20 cm long, double pinnately dissected, with spread segments with linear-lanceolate sessile lobes. The buds are oblong, up to 15 mm long. The flowers are red. Blooms in May – July. The fruit is clavate-cylindrical, usually a slightly widened capsule at the top, up to 20 mm long, protruding or semi-appressed bristly, or bare or completely bare at the bottom.
Fig.2. Argemone poppy (lat. Papaver argemone L.)
Blooms in May-August. Distributed in Ukraine (Carpathians, Dnieper region, Crimea), in the European part of Russia (Baltic and Black Sea regions). It grows on rocky places, sandy soils, in fields, fallow lands, as a weed.
Papaver atlanticum (Ball) Coss. – Atlantic poppy. A herbaceous plant covered with long, stiff, white hairs. The leaves are bluish-gray in color and form a rosette. Flowers up to 5 cm in diameter; from dark orange to red. Atlantic poppy is grown as an ornamental plant.
Fig.3. Atlantic poppy (lat. Papaver atlanticum (Ball) Coss.)
Papaver bracteatum Lindl. - Poppy bract. Perennial herbaceous plant. Stems are 60–120 cm tall, erect, protruding at the bottom, pressed-bristly at the top, thick, strong. The leaves are pinnately dissected, with oblong-lanceolate segments, the edges of which are raised upward; up to 45 cm long. There are many stem leaves, they go almost to the flower itself or leave a short peduncle.
Fig.4. Bract poppy (lat. Papaver bracteatum Lindl.)
The peduncle is thick, appressed-bristly, at the end just under the flower bears, in addition to two large, usually unequal, leaf-shaped, pinnately dissected bracts, several more (3–5) oval, leathery, entire, sometimes slightly lobed, appressed, short-edged and densely bristly sepal-shaped bracts, which have a rigid-membranous, comb-dissected border along the edge; the length of these bracts is 2–5 cm; sepals 3–4 cm long, sparsely pubescent with short appressed hairs; the corolla is very large; petals are 4–6, up to 10 cm long, blood-red, widely extended into a marigold, usually with a large elongated black spot at the base. Blooms in May – June. The fruit is an obovate large capsule; rays 15–18; the disc is flat, with elongated flat teeth.
Papaver chakassicum – Khakassian poppy. Perennial herbaceous plant. Forms small, dense turfs. The leaves are pinnately dissected, on thin long petioles. They can be entire-edged or with a few teeth. The pubescence is not dense, with semi-appressed hairs. The peduncles are also pubescent, up to 35 cm high. The flowers are yellow, 4–5 cm or more in diameter. The capsules are oblong or slightly widened in the middle part, barrel-shaped, covered with hairs, sometimes bare. Blooms in May – June. Grows in rocky and sandy steppes, on rocky slopes.
Fig.5. Khakassian poppy (lat. Papaver chakassicum)
Several locations are known in the Republic of Khakassia: Askizsky district - the vicinity of the villages of Kamyshta, Ust-Kamyshta, the Saksary mountain range; Shirinsky district - the vicinity of the village of Tuim. Currently, there is a sharp decline in numbers due to human economic activity. Listed in the Red Book of the Republic of Khakassia.
Papaver lapponicum (Tolm.) Nordh. - Lapland poppy. Lapland poppy is a perennial plant that grows in large, dense tufts. The leaves are gray-green or green, pubescent with adjacent long white hairs, 4–12 cm long, on petioles up to 7 cm long, simply pinnately dissected, with 3–4 pairs of segments. The segments are lanceolate, long-pointed or linear, mostly serrated, elongated or shortened, sharp or blunt. Peduncles are numerous, straight, 10–30 cm high, almost bare below, with pressed white or dark bristles above.
Fig.6. Lapland poppy (lat. Papaver lapponicum (Tolm.) Nordh.)
The buds are small, 1.5 cm long, 0.6 cm in diameter, covered with short dark hairs. Flowers up to 2.5 cm in diameter, cup-shaped, bright lemon. The sepals are boat-shaped, pubescent, green, light at the edges. The petals are rapidly falling, tapering towards the base, rounded or truncated at the top, the outer petals are 1.3–2.3 cm long, the inner petals are half as long. The corolla contains many stamens, the length of which is an order of magnitude greater than the length of the ovary. The capsule is 1.3 cm long, 0.5–0.7 cm wide, pear-oval or club-shaped, with sparsely appressed dark setae.
Papaver orientale L. – Oriental poppy. Perennial herbaceous plant. The stems are erect, thick, few-branched, often simple, 40-90 cm tall, densely protruding, bristly-shaggy at the bottom; the bristles are white. The stem may be very short with 1–2 small leaves. Leaves are up to 30 cm long, basal on long bristly petioles (4–6 cm long), the blade is oblong in outline, lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, simply pinnately dissected, with a large number of segments; the segments are oblong or more often lanceolate, sharp, rarely entire, often sharply toothed, ending in strong setae, the lower ones apart, the upper ones closer together, the uppermost ones merging into a sharply toothed, terminal, gradually pointed lobe.
Fig.7. Oriental poppy (lat. Papaver orientale L.)
Stem leaves similar to basal leaves, reduced; the highest seated ones. The pedicels are long (up to 35 cm long), thick, almost white with pressed hard bristles. The buds are ovoid or broadly oval, 2–3 cm long, covered with protruding white bristles. Sepals 2–3; corollas large, red; petals, four or six, almost round, up to 9 cm long, orange-fiery red or pink-red, with or without a black square spot above the base. The filaments of the stamens are dark, slightly expanded upward; anthers oblong, purple. Blooms in June – July. The fruit is a gray, glabrous, obovate capsule, 2–3 cm long; the disc is flat, with (8)13–15 rays, membranous, its teeth are short, blunt, almost truncated, and rigid.
Papaver radicatum Rottb. - Polar poppy. The plant is 8–15 cm high. Forms small cushions. The leaves are simply pinnate, small, on short broad petioles, the segments are entire, lanceolate or oblong, 1.5–3 cm long, 1–2 cm wide, pointed, rarely incised twice, close together. Peduncles are low, erect, 8–15 cm long, their pubescence is protruding, dark red in the upper half.
Fig.8. Polar poppy (lat. Papaver radicatum Rottb.)
The buds are round-oval, densely dark brown, hairy. The corolla is 2.5–4 cm in diameter, with wide bright yellow petals, usually remaining attached to the capsule. Stamens are relatively few in number, barely exceeding the ovary; anthers rounded, short. Blooms in June – July. The fruit is a rather wide obovate capsule, 10–12 mm long, with dense dark red appressed or spaced setae. The disk of the capsule is slightly convex, the rays are almost without a membranous connection.
Papaver somniferum L. typus – Soporific poppy, or opium poppy. Soporific poppy is a herbaceous annual plant, bluish, large, 100–120 cm high, with few branches. Hairs are either absent or sparse on leaf veins or peduncles. The stem is erect, smooth, bluish-green, branched in the upper part.
Fig.9. Soporific poppy, or opium poppy (lat. Papaver somniferum L. typus)
The lower leaves are on short petioles, gradually turning into a blade, the upper ones are sessile, stem-embracing, the blade is oblong, glaucous, uneven, 10–30 cm long, coarsely serrate-toothed or incised-lobed and sharp-toothed along the edge. Peduncles are long, thick, bare or with protruding bristles. Before the flowers open, the buds are drooping, bare, leathery, ovoid-oval, obtuse, large, 1.5–3 cm long. Before blooming, the flowers straighten. Flowers are actinomorphic, bisexual, large, solitary, located at the top of the stem or its branches. The perianth is double, a calyx of two leathery sepals that fall off when the bud opens. The corolla consists of 4 round or broadly ovate petals of white, red, pink or purple color with a purple, yellow or white spot at the base, up to 10 cm long. The stamens are free, numerous, in several circles; stamen filaments dark or light, club-shaped thickened above the middle; anthers linear-oblong. The gynoecium is coenocarpous, formed by numerous fused carpels.
The ovary is superior, the ovules are numerous. Blooms in May – August. The fruit is a short cylindrical obovate or almost spherical capsule, 2–7 cm long, narrowed at the bottom into a clearly visible long stalk, single-locular, with incomplete septa and a large number of small seeds; the disc is flat, membranous, with clear, deep teeth; rays 8–12. The seeds are fleshy with an oily endosperm, 1–1.5 mm in diameter; ripen in late July to early September.
Perhaps it may seem to some that poppies in the garden - especially in decorative ones - will not find their place. This is not true, try it and see!
Opium poppy (Papaver somniferum). There is a wide variety of colors and shapes of this flower. Therefore, some of them will find their place in ornamental gardens.
The poppy family (Papaveraceae) is quite rich, but some of them are known to be weeds rather than crop plants. However, we are interested in plants that are decorative or useful. The rich poppy family has a wide variety. Some of them are annual, others are perennial.
Types of poppy
The edible poppy species is known as Papaver somniferum, but this species does not occur in nature and probably never grew. Today it is used as an ornamental plant, especially some of its varieties with double flowers. Since these are annual plants, they produce seeds, which they use to travel around the garden in a slightly disorganized manner.
Of the decorative species, the most interesting are certain varieties of oriental poppy (P. orientalis), which are perennial plants. Its flowers are characterized by very expressive colors and large sizes.
Opium poppy ‘Picotée’
The range of varieties of oriental poppy is quite rich, but some varieties are patented, so they are rarely found on sale due to their relatively high price. In addition to the oriental poppy, we still see bract poppy (Papaver bracteatum) and false oriental poppy (Papaver pseudo-orientale).
All poppies require a sunny location and well-drained soil rich in nutrients. These are perennial plants that, in good conditions, grow in one place for many years. Therefore, they are often planted in mixed perennial flower beds.
The flowers of these poppies are often very extravagant and so striking that they should never be ignored. Without exaggeration, they can be compared to fireworks - flowers of unprecedented beauty will suddenly bloom for a while, only to shine for a short time and disappear forever. The flowering time of poppies is relatively short. After flowering, not only the flowers disappear, but also the leaves, or a significant part of them.
Himalayan blue poppy Meconopsis grandis is the national flower of Bhutan.
What can it be combined with?
After flowering, poppies wither and will not appear in full glory until next year. The ability to properly combine with other plants depends on this feature.
If poppies are planted separately, they will leave empty and unused space. Only a combination of poppies with certain types of plants leads to excellent results. Suitable for this purpose are, for example, low species of deciduous shrubs that are pruned low to the ground every year - such as Caryopteris or Perovskia, Japanese spirea (Spiraea japonica) or small-flowered species of St. John's wort (Hypericum).
Of the perennial plants, the most valuable neighbors are those species that are still low at the time of poppy flowering or are just germinating. These are, for example, autumn varieties of sedum (Sedum), tall varieties of some phlox (Phlox) and some types of perennial ornamental grasses. Various varieties of millet (Panicum virgatum) or pennisetum (Pennisetum) are excellent companions for poppies.
Oriental poppy Papaver "Cedar Hill"
Relatives of poppies
In addition to poppies themselves, you can find other plants of the poppy family in the garden. Some of them can be very attractive. Very beautiful and colorful, for example, Californian Escholtzia californica with many bright orange very attractive flowers. This is an annual plant that reproduces by seeds. Another very important group is Meconopsis - a genus of perennial herbaceous plants of the poppy family.
Californian Eschscholzia is a type species of herbaceous plants of the Eschscholzia genus of the Poppy family.
There are species in this genus with a variety of colors, the most popular being those with large blue flowers (eg Meconopsis betonicifolia). These fascinating plants come from the highlands of Asia, making them quite challenging to grow. They require cold climates and high humidity, which is very difficult to imitate in some gardens.
Macleaia cordata, or Bocconia cordifolia, is a species of poisonous plants of the Macleaia genus of the Poppy family.
At first glance, it may be surprising that another perennial plant belongs to the poppy family - Macleaya cordata. This tall perennial comes from China and likes moist, nutritious soil in a semi-shaded or sunny location. It grows to a height of about 2m and is used to create interesting groupings of plants, as a backdrop in perennial beds and as short-term cover in unsightly areas.
POPPY FAMILY - PAPAVERACEAE
The poppy family includes about 45 genera and up to 700 species
, distributed mainly in the northern temperate zone. Representatives of the poppy family, regardless of the climate zone in which they are found, often prefer places with insufficient moisture. Most often they grow in steppes, semi-deserts and deserts. In the Arctic and highlands, where the degree of moisture is much higher, poppies most often settle on dry hillocks, on rocky slopes with well-drained soils.
At the same time, the family also contains plants from more humid habitats.
Within the family there is a wide variety of life forms : from herbaceous annuals and perennials, which make up the vast majority, to shrubs and even small trees. Some species are vines. They have a thin, twisting stem, up to 3 m long, clinging to support with the help of curly leaf petioles.
Leaves in poppies they are simple, alternate or the uppermost ones are almost opposite or whorled, without stipules. The basal leaves often form a dense rosette. The shape of the leaf blade is very diverse.
Flowers poppies are sometimes collected in top-flowered inflorescences. However, most members of the family have solitary flowers on long, erect, leafless peduncles, bisexual, actinomorphic or, less commonly, zygomorphic.
Poppy flowers come in a variety of colors and sizes. All poppies have a calyx consisting of 2 or 3 sepals. In some cases, before flowering begins, it forms a closed container in which there are wrinkled, tiled petals of the bud. This is observed in all poppies and related genera. The buds most often droop before flowering.
The corolla of poppy flowers, if present, consists of 4, 6 or 8-12 (up to 16) petals arranged in two circles. The petals of the outer and inner circles are whole, without nectaries, and do not differ from each other in shape and size. Sometimes the petals of the inner circle are somewhat smaller, as happens, for example, in celandine .
The stamens are most often numerous, rarely 6-12, very rarely 4. Most poppy stamens have free stamens. Anthers extruded; are opened longitudinally. Pollen is tricolpate, scattered multicolpate or multiporate. The exine is granular, reticulate or tuberculate.
The gynoecium is paracarpous, with 2 or 3-20 carpels. Carpels are numerous. The ovary is superior or almost semi-inferior, unilocular or pseudomultilocular as a result of ingrowth into the cavity and connection of the placentas.
The vast majority of members of the poppy family are insect-pollinated
plants. As mentioned, most poppies have large flowers with abundant pollen. The anthers in a flower usually mature before the ovary, which ensures cross-pollination. Pollen, produced in huge quantities, is poured onto the petals. This attracts many insects, especially flies and small bugs. At the same time, relatively heavy insects - bumblebees and beetles - prefer to land on a kind of landing platform - wide sessile stigmas, such as those of poppies. In addition, the flowers of poppies and some other species are used by many beetles and flies as a night shelter from the cold.
This is how cross-pollination occurs in good weather and when there is an abundance of pollinators. However, under unfavorable conditions, self-pollination can occur in many poppies. This is well known from the example of poppy species and some other plants.
After the anthers open, the pollen falls on the petals. At dusk or before rain, poppy flowers tend to close. Thanks to this mechanism, the internal parts of the flower are protected from night dampness or rain, and, secondly, the petals with pollen adhering to them, closely adjacent to the stigma, give pollen to it, and self-pollination occurs.
Sometimes, due to bad weather, the flowers of some plants do not open at all. However, this does not interfere with fruiting: self-pollination in such cases occurs inside the unopened flower.
Most common fetal type in poppy plants - a dry capsule of a round or pod-shaped form. When dry, the round box of poppies either cracks or opens with pores in the upper part. Thin pod-like boxes that open with valves or break into segments are found in celandine. The seeds of most poppies are small, with abundant oily endosperm and a small, poorly differentiated embryo, octahedral or round in shape, often with appendages.
Very diverse methods of seed dispersal
in poppies and associated biological adaptations. Seeds lacking appendages are most often scattered in different ways, i.e. they are ballistas. Thus, numerous small poppy seeds spill out of a mature capsule and fall quite far from the mother plant. This happens especially intensely in windy weather, when dry poppy pods, like rattles, begin to sway in a strong wind.
The seed appendages of poppy plants - elaiosomes - are outgrowths of the outer integument. This outgrowth surrounds the micropyle or is located along the seed suture in the form of a scallop. The juicy and oily tissue of elaiosomes attracts ants, which distribute seeds of this type.
In addition to ballistae and myrmecochores, the poppy family also contains endozoochores. The seeds of many poppies and related genera are eaten by birds or other animals and dispersed in excrement. Some rodents - voles, gophers, jerboas, gerbils - distribute seeds, storing them for future use.
Poppies are divided into 2 subfamilies : poppy ( Papaveroidae) and hypocoumaceae ( Hypecoideae). Previously, the poppy family also included the subfamily smoky (Fumarioideae), now classified as a separate family.
The poppy subfamily, consisting of 26 genera and more than 450 species, is the largest in volume. Of its members, the most widespread and best known genus is the poppy ( Papaver).
Members of the poppy family contain numerous and varied alkaloids- isoquinoline derivatives. The names of these substances - papaverine, adlumine, bicuculline, glaucine, fumarin, etc. - clearly indicate the sources of raw materials.
The medicinal properties of poppy seeds have been known for a long time. Such a representative of this family as celandine. The highly poisonous juice of this plant contains 6-7 alkaloids: chelidonine, homochelidonine, protonin, sanguinarine, etc. It is used to remove warts, hence its Russian name. Medieval alchemists tried to find a means of making gold from less valuable metals in the “golden” root of celandine. According to Pliny, this plant was also considered medicinal in Ancient Rome. In the Middle Ages, especially in Germany, celandine was used against gout, scrofula and in the treatment of bone fractures. In animal husbandry, fresh grass is used.
Poppy seeds are used to extract oil and prepare various culinary products.
All poppies are very decorative. Many of them have long been introduced into garden culture.
Due to their decorative properties, wild representatives of the poppy family are being intensively exterminated. Several species from this family, growing in Russia, are included in the Red Book.
Get acquainted with morphological structure of the flower and inflorescence can be found on the page "Handbook of morphology of herbaceous plants".
And on the website of the Ecosystem Ecological Center you can see the distribution of herbaceous plant species by ecological groups and habitats (biotopes) of central Russia: