The Flower

• Any of a number of showy flowers belonging to the poppy family.

• Poppies have one flower per stem, four to six petals and a whorl of stamens at their center. There are white, pink, yellow, orange, red and blue poppies, some with a dark center.

• Poppies are found in the following four genera: Meconopsis, Papaver, Romneya and Eschscholzia.

• The genus Papaver includes over 120 species, including Papever somniferum, grown for opium and the source of opiates like morphine and heroin as well as of seeds used in cooking and baking.

• Eschscholzia californica is the golden poppy, the California state flower, found along the banks of Amapola Creek.