Tuesday 9 April 2013

ICELAND POPPY

The Iceland Poppy (Papaver nudicaule) is a boreal flowering plant. Native to subpolar regions of Europe, Asia and North America, and the mountains of Central Asia (but not in Iceland!), Iceland poppies are hardy but short-lived perennials, often grown as biennials, that yield large, papery, bowl-shaped, lightly fragrant flowers supported by hairy, 30 cm, curved stems among feathery blue-green foliage 4-5 cm long. They were first described by botanists in 1759. The wild species blooms in white or yellow, and is hardy from USDA Zones 3a-10b. All parts of this plant are likely to be poisonous, containing (like all poppies) toxic alkaloids. Cultivars come in shades of yellow, orange, salmon, rose, pink, cream and white as well as bi-colored varieties. This scarlet bloom is the cultivar "Matador".

This post is part of the 
Nature Footsteps Floral Macros meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme.

5 comments:

  1. Beautiful poppy and perfect for both memes.

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  2. So beautiful. This is one of my favorite flowers.

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  3. What a beauty!! I love the way the light and shadows play over the petals!!!

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  4. The poppy is one of my three favorite flowers along with the rose and tulips. There is nothing more beautiful than a field of these lovely flowers. Your capture show its beautify off so well. Lovely. genie

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