Poppies

Poppies



罂粟花 - 若血的鲜红如生命，却寓意着沉睡平静与死亡

(Source - Wikipedia)

Following the trench warfare of the first World War which took place in the poppy fields of Flanders, red poppies have become a symbol of remembrance of soldiers who have died during wartime.

Poppy flowers have four to six petals, many stamens forming a conspicuous whorl in the center of the flower and an ovary consisting of from two to many fused carpels. The petals are showy, may be of any color and some have markings. The petals are crumpled in the bud and as blooming finishes, the petals often lie flat before falling away. The poppy will become dormant after blooming.

The flowers of most poppy species are attractive and are widely cultivated as annual or perennial plants. This has resulted in a number of commercially important cultivars, such as the Shirley poppy. Poppies are in full bloom late spring to early summer. Most species secrete latex when injured. The pollen of the oriental poppy, Papaver Orientale, is dark blue. The Papaver Somniferum poppy is mainly grown in Eastern and Southern Asia and South Eastern Europe. It is believed that it originated in the Mediterranean region. The pollen of the field poppy or corn poppy is dark green to grey. Bees use poppies as a pollen source.

Poppies have long been used as a symbol of sleep, peace, and death: sleep because of the opium extracted from them, and death because of the common blood-red color of the red poppy in particular. In Greek and Rome myths, poppies were used as offerings to the dead. Poppies used as emblems on tombstones symbolize eternal sleep. This symbolism was evoked in the children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, in which a magical poppy field threatened to make the protagonists sleep forever. A second interpretation of poppies in classical mythology is that the bright scarlet color signifies a promise of resurrection after dead.

The poppy of wartime remembrance is Papaver rheas, the red-flowered corn poppy. This poppy is a common weed in Europe and is found in many locations, including Flanders, the setting of the famous poem "In Flanders Fields," by the Canadian surgeon and soldier John McCrae. In Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, artificial poppies are worn to commemorate those who died in war. This form of commemoration is associated with Remembrance Day, which falls on November 11. In Canada, Australia and the UK, poppies are often worn from the beginning of November through to the 11th, or Remembrance Sunday if that falls on a later date. In New Zealand and Australia, soldiers are commemorated on ANZAC day, although the poppy is still commonly worn around Remembrance Day. Wearing of poppies has been a custom since 1924 in the United States. Miss Moina Michael of Georgia is credited as the founder of the Memorial Poppy in the United States.