_Flores Rhœados_; _Red Poppy Petals_; F. _Fleurs de Coquelicot_; G.
_Klatschrosen_.
=Botanical Origin=—_Papaver Rhœas_ L.—The common Red Poppy or Corn Rose
is an annual herb found in fields throughout the greater part of Europe
often in extreme abundance. It almost always occurs as an accompaniment
of cereal crops, frequently disappearing when this cultivation is given
up. It is plentiful in England and Ireland, but less so in Scotland;
is found abundantly in Central and Southern Europe and in Asia Minor,
whence it extends as far as Abyssinia, Palestine, and the banks of the
Euphrates. But it does not occur in India or in North America.
From the evidence adduced by De Candolle[176] it would appear that the
plant is strictly indigenous to Sicily, Greece, Dalmatia, and possibly
the Caucasus.
=History=—_Papaver Rhœas_ was known to the ancients, though doubtless
it was often confounded with _P. dubium_ L. the flowers of which are
rather smaller and paler. The petals were used in pharmacy in Germany
in the 15th century.[177]
=Description=—The branches of the stem are upright, each terminating
in a conspicuous long-stalked flower, from which as it opens the two
sepals fall off. The delicate scarlet petals are four in number,
transversely elliptical and attached below the ovary by very short,
dark violet claws. As they are broader than long, their edges overlap
in the expanded flower. In the bud they are irregularly crumpled,
but when unfolded are smooth, lustrous, and unctuous to the touch.
They fall off very quickly, shrink up in drying, and assume a
brownish-violet tint even when dried with the utmost care. Although
they do not contain a milky juice like the green parts of the plant,
they have while fresh a strong narcotic odour and a faintly bitter
taste.
=Chemical Composition=—The most important constituent of the petals
is the colouring matter, still but very imperfectly known. According
to L. Meier (1846) it consists of two acids, neither of which could
be obtained other than in an amorphous state. The colouring matter is
abundantly taken up by water or spirit of wine but not by ether. The
aqueous infusion is not precipitated by alum, but yields a dingy violet
precipitate with acetate of lead, and is coloured blackish-brown by
ferric salts or by alkalis.
The alkaloids of opium cannot be detected in the petals. Attfield in
particular has examined the latter (1873) for morphine but without
obtaining a trace of that body.
[176] _Géogr. botanique_, ii (1855) 649.
[177] Flores Papaveris rubri—in the list of the pharmaceutical shop of
the town of Nördlingen. See Flückiger, in the _Archiv der Pharm._ 211
(1877) 97, No. 62.
The milky juice of the herb and capsules has a narcotic odour, and
appears to exert a distinctly sedative action. Hesse obtained from them
(1865) a colourless crystallizable substance, _Rhœadine_, C₂₁H₂₁NO₆,
of weak alkaline reaction. It is tasteless, not poisonous, nearly
insoluble in water, alcohol, ether, chloroform, benzol, or aqueous
ammonia, but dissolves in weak acids. Its solution in dilute sulphuric
or hydrochloric acid acquires after a time a splendid red colour,
destroyed by an alkali but reappearing on addition of an acid. Hesse
further believes (1877) the milky juice to contain meconic acid.
=Uses=—Red Poppy petals are employed in pharmacy only for the sake of
their fine colouring matter. They should be preferred in the fresh
state.