''Papaver nudicaule'', the Iceland poppy, is a

boreal Boreal may refer to: Climatology and geography *Boreal (age), the first climatic phase of the Blytt-Sernander sequence of northern Europe, during the Holocene epoch *Boreal climate, a climate characterized by long winters and short, cool to mild ...

flowering plant. Equivalence with ''Papaver croceum'' has been contested. Native to subpolar regions of Asia and North America, and the mountains of Central Asia as well as temperate China (but not in

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

), Iceland poppies are hardy but short-lived perennials, often grown as

biennials A biennial plant is a flowering plant that, generally in a temperate climate, takes two years to complete its biological life cycle. Life cycle In its first year, the biennal plant undergoes primary growth, during which its vegetative structures ...

, that yield large, papery, bowl-shaped, lightly fragrant flowers supported by hairy, curved stems among feathery blue-green foliage 1-6 inches 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. The Latin

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''nudicaule'' means “with bare stems”.

Cultivars

Cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...

s come in shades of yellow, orange, salmon, rose, pink, cream and white as well as bi-colored varieties. Seed strains include: ‘Champagne Bubbles’ (15-inch plants in orange, pink, scarlet, apricot, yellow, and creamy-white); ‘Wonderland’ (10-inch dwarf strain with flowers up to 4 inches wide); ‘Flamenco’ (pink shades, bordered white, 1½ to 2 feet tall); ‘Party Fun’ (to 1 foot, said to bloom reliably the first year in autumn and the second spring); ‘Illumination’ and ‘Meadow Pastels’ (to 2 feet, perhaps the tallest strains); ‘Matador’ (scarlet flowers to 5 inches across on 16 inch plants); the perennial 'Victory Giants' with red petals and ‘Oregon Rainbows’, which has large selfed, bicolor, and picoteed flowers and is perhaps the best strain for the cool Pacific Northwest (elsewhere this strain’s buds frequently fail to open). The dwarf Gartenzwerg group, and the cultivars ‘Solar Fire Orange’ and ‘Summer Breeze Orange’ have all won the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nort ...

’s

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. History The Award of Garden Merit ...

Cultivation

The plants prefer light, well-drained soil and full sun. The plants are not hardy in hot weather, perishing within a season in hot summer climates. Iceland poppies, like all poppies, possess exceedingly minute seeds and long taproots that resent disturbance. In cool summer climates on well-drained soils, Iceland poppies can live 2-3 seasons, flowering from early spring to fall. Iceland poppies are amongst the best poppies for cutting, as they last for several days in the vase.

Genetics

The genetics of the garden forms of ''P. nudicaule'' have been studied, particularly with respect to flower colour. The white flower colour is dominant with respect to yellow. Other colours, such as buff and orange, are recessive.

Toxicity

All parts of this plant are likely to be poisonous, containing (like all poppies) toxic

alkaloid Alkaloids are a class of basic, naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Some synthetic compounds of similar ...

s. In particular, ''P. nudicaule'' has been shown to contain the benzophenanthidine alkaloid,

chelidonine Chelidonine is an isolate of ''Papaveraceae'' with acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase inhibitory activity. Introduction Chelidonine is the major alkaloid component of '' Chelidonium majus''. ''Chelidonium majus L''. is the only spec ...

. It also contains (+)- amurine, (-)- amurensinine, (-)-O- methylthalisopavine, (-)- flavinantine and (-)-

amurensine Amurensine is an alkaloid found in ''Papaver ''Papaver'' is a genus of 70–100 species of frost-tolerant annuals, biennials, and perennials native to temperate and cold regions of Eurasia, Africa and North America. It is the type genus of t ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q148824 nudicaule Garden plants Flora of Northern Europe Flora of Northeast Asia Flora of Subarctic America Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus