Some similarities to : Garden Cultivar varieties of Poppies. Uniquely identifiable characteristics : there is no other plant quite like this.

Poppy seeds have been put to use within fireworks, to create a myriad of tiny sparks which fly off.

Opium Poppy is the plant from which opium, a cocktail of dangerous drugs, was first obtained. The seed head and stems, when cut, exudes a milky white latex that contains opium. This should not be touched.

Surprisingly, also, is that the seeds themselves, sold as Poppy Seeds, are non-poisonous, do not contain opiate alkaloids in any significant quantity as is likely to be consumed, and are used in dressing the tops of baked products such as buns, muffins, cakes and other confectionery. Poppy Seed Oil is obtained by compression of the seeds and used as a cooking oil, the principle flavour being due to 2-pentylfuran.

Opium Poppy is still grown commercially for the pharmaceutical drugs it contains. After refining Morphine and Codeine can be extracted directly. Sometimes these are used as pre-cursors in a chemical process to derive secondary drugs, such as diamorphine, etorphine, buprenophrine, naltrexone, naloxone, nalbuphine, oxymorphone and oxycodone but these, being derivatives, are beyond the scope of this tome. Most of these act to depress the Central Nervous System and reduce pain. The morphine-like drugs act on the same receptors in the brain as do enkephalins, natural pain-killers found within the brain.

The two genes that enable the production of opium and codeine have now been identified. Placing these genes in other organisms, such as bacteria, will enable the production of these pharmaceuticals at much lower cost and without using agricultural land better suited to growing food.

The milky latex contains a mixture of dangerous opiate alkaloids, the three most significant being Morphine, Codeine and Thebain. In particular, it contains no cocaine, which is a different kind of alkaloid altogether. Codeine is used as pharmaceutically as an analgesic and anti-tussive drug, and for this purpose is obtained from Opium Poppy. Morphine is present in opium at about 10% - 12%. The concentration of codeine in opium is far less at between about 0.3% to 3%. Codeine is a very close relative of Morphine, and is possibly the most widely available over-the-counter pain-relieving (analgesic) drug on sale, usually being mixed with paracetamol. In the human body, codeine is converted into morphine, which is the modus operandus of this drug, and gives it a wide safety margin. It is also safer than morphine in unscrupulous hands. However, 2% of the population have a greater metabolism of codeine into morphine, and those patients, particularly children, may suffer from overdose. Thebaine is a minor constituent of opium, and although chemically similar to both morphine and codeine, it actually has the opposite effect on the Central Nervous System: it stimulates rather than depresses it, and at higher doses causes strychnine-like convulsions. It is not used pharmacologically, but can be converted chemically into many other commercial drugs that are. It is itself a controlled Class A drug. The major difference between Morphine and the other two is that Morphine has a five-membered out-of-plane ring, whereas in the other two it has six-members.

Papaverine, a benzylisoquionoline, is another opiate alkaloid found within the sap of Opium Poppy, but has both very different chemical structure and different pharmacological action. It is used pharmaceutically to treat spasms, but there are moves afoot to withdraw it from the market because of lack of evidence of effectiveness. Papaverine inhibits the enzyme phosphodiesterase and thus acts to relax smooth muscle, dilate blood vessels and reduce muscle spasms.

Noscapine, aka Narcotine or Anarcotine, is another opiate alkaloid found naturally within the Opium Poppy. Abundance in Opium Poppy seeds between 2% and 10%. Structurally it is similar to morphine with lactone-ring modifications. It is used as a cough suppressant and also exhibits anti-cancer activity which is being investigated to find out whether it can be deployed effectively. It may also be useful in stroke victims.

Meconic Acid is present at about 5% in several species of Poppy including this, Opium Poppy and Welsh Poppy, but it is pharmacologically inert, having no noticeable effect.