Kew Species Profiles
Papaver orientale is a perennial poppy with large, red or orange flowers and bristly leaves. It has been a popular garden plant since it was introduced to western Europe in 1714. Many cultivars are now available, including those with white (P. orientale 'Perry's White'), pink (P. orientale 'Mrs Perry'), deep crimson (P. orientale 'Beauty of Livermere') and purple (P. orientale 'Patty's Plum') flowers. Many cultivated varieties of oriental poppy are hybrids between P. orientale and P. bracteatum.
Native to north-eastern Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and north-western Iran, where it inhabits the sub-alpine and alpine zones.
Plant-collecting in TurkeyOne of the earliest plant-collecting expeditions to the east of Turkey was made by Joseph Pitton de Tournefort and Andreas Gundelsheimer, with Claude Aubriet as artist. The team set off from Paris in 1700 and reached Istanbul in early 1701 before sailing along the Black Sea coast to Trebizond (present day Trabzon). From there, they travelled inland, accompanying a caravan of around 600 men and animals for safety, reaching Erzurum on 15 June. During an expedition from there into the mountains, to visit the sources of the Euphrates, they collected seeds of Papaver orientale , which were subsequently grown in Paris, and then sent to England in about 1714.
DescriptionA long-lived, herbaceous perennial with deep taproots. The leaves are mostly basal, deeply toothed and bristly-hairy. The flowering stems are 30-90 cm tall, without bracts and usually bear a solitary flower. The flowers are red or orange and typically have four petals. The anthers are yellow or pale violet, and there are 8-15 long-ridged stigmas. The fruit is a capsule up to 2 cm long.
A similar species of perennial poppy, Papaver bracteatum , has large, usually six-petalled flowers, with a dark blotch and bracts below the flowers. It comes from north-western Iran and the Caucasus Mountains.
UsesPapaver orientale is cultivated as an ornamental.
Millennium Seed Bank: Seed storageThe Millennium Seed Bank Partnership aims to save plant life worldwide, focusing on plants under threat and those of most use in the future. Seeds are dried, packaged and stored at a sub-zero temperature in Kew's seed bank vault at Wakehurst.
Description of seeds: Average 1,000 seed weight = 0.2 g Collections stored in the Millennium Seed Bank: Three Seed storage behaviour: Orthodox Germination testing: 100 % germination was achieved on a 1% agar medium, at a temperature of 21°C, on a cycle of 12 hours daylight/12 hours darkness
CultivationPapaver orientale is a suitable perennial for planting in long, rough grass and herbaceous borders. After flowering, the stems and leaves can be cut down, and the leaves emerge again in autumn or early spring.
This species at KewOriental poppy can be seen growing in the Duke's Garden and adjacent to the Orangery at Kew, and in the West Mansion Border and Sir Henry Price Memorial Garden at Wakehurst.
Pressed and dried, and alcohol-preserved specimens of Papaver orientale are held in Kew's Herbarium, where they are available to researchers, by appointment. The details of some of these can be seen online in the Herbarium Catalogue.
Contains alkaloids; toxic if eaten hence avoided by grazing animals.
Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592
