How and when should I plant Poppies?

How do the opioids in poppies benefit the plant?

• Is the idea that mammals will get hooked eating the flowers and distribute the seeds everywhere or are they used by the plant as something like insect repellant and the effect on mammals is just coincidence?

• Answer:

  This is a great question.  I love this question.  Somebody could probably do a dissertation on this question.  And I have not had as much fun looking up answers in a long time!  Ahhhh, the poppy..... My short answer is that the opiates absolutely benefit the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) by getting its prime ingesting mammal "feeling good" - us humans!  Human mammals have benefited from the painkilling qualities of opiates in opium poppy seeds and straw for millenia, and have obligingly thanked the plant by propagating it lovingly and disseminating it worldwide, ensuring its broad distribution, breeding and ultimately dominant proliferation tactics. My favorite source for this theory (and, of course, it is a theory) is Michael Pollan's wonderful and delightful book, "the Botany of Desire".[1] http://www.amazon.com/The-Botany-Desire-Plants-Eye-World/dp/0375501290 In the book, he "explores the nature of domesticated plants from the dual perspective of humans and the plants themselves. Pollan presents case studies that mirror four types of human desires that are reflected in the way that we selectively grow, breed, and genetically engineer our plants. The apple reflects the desire of sweetness, the tulip beauty, marijuana pleasure and the potato sustenance." [2] The focus for this answer is, of course, marijuana.  This is a relevant issue for pain management throughout history, even (perhaps especially) today.  Consider the following: "Opium or afim can rightly be called the ‘king of narcotics’. Perhaps no other narcotic enjoys so much popularity as opium. Strong addictive drugs such as heroin are synthesized from it. A person addicted to opium could go to any length to produce it. He could commit theft, robbery or murder to acquire money to buy opium or the related drug, heroin. This is one of the major reasons why opium and related drugs are banned for non-medical use in many countries. Raw opium is dark brown in colour and is a soft gummy mass having a strong characteristic odour and bitter taste. On eating it gives rise to a feeling of well being. In small doses, say of about 50 mg, it gives rise to pleasant sensations; however, in large doses it induces sleep. Still larger doses, say about 2 gm, are liable to kill a person."[3] "Pain is the number one reason people seek medical attention, and patients seeking pain relief are the most prevalent group employing cannabis medicines. Chronic pain seriously interferes with the quality of life for many patients. For some, strong prescription pain medications (opioids) have provided them relief.  Unfortunately several problems can follow with the use of opioids on a long term basis.  Patients may soon develop a tolerance to the analgesic effects, thus requiring ever increasing doses.  Chronic use of opioids also causes unwanted side effects that include such problems as constipation, feeling drugged, nauseated, and depressed.  Countless self-reports from chronic pain patients who use cannabis for pain management show a common theme.  These patients report that they are able to either significantly decrease their dose of opioids or discontinue opioid use completely.  They also report the benefit of no longer having to deal with opioid side effects such as constipation, nausea or depression.  A typical observation by patients is that their use of cannabis doesn't necessarily take away the pain, but that they are no longer preoccupied with the pain; they are able to ignore it.  Research is beginning to show that there is a synergy between cannabinoids and opioids and thus, a patient could decrease the amount of opioids necessary to manage pain due to the opioid sparing effect of cannabis." [4] This is a way to demonstrate that both plants, easily grown in your average backyard, have been shown to alleviate pain. Before the War On Drugs (most of history), wouldn't you have wanted such a plant in your garden?  I can bet that the village doctor would have!  This , this is how a plant gets itself preserved and spread around: mammals (especially intelligent ones like people) like it a whole lot and give it to their buddies along the trade routes. In fairness to the question, I explored the main areas opium poppies are grown and which mammals (non-human) may likely ingest them.  Opium poppies are mainly grown in Tasmania, India, Australia, Korea, Japan and China, and the opium poppy straw is the main botanical part used for extraction: Find out more Image: An opium harvester in Indore. The cultivation of opium poppies for opium production has been restricted due to its misuse. Opium 'straw' is legally produced in several countries, from which the alkaloids can also be extracted for medicines. These are the stems of the poppy, rather that the fruit capsules, and do not produce raw opium. It is difficult to find accurate figures on the economics of opium poppy production, but the importance of opium straw has been increasing. [5] Which (non-human) mamals have been known to ingest it?  Well, these are just too funny: "Stoned wallabies make crop circles" http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8118257.stm "Australian wallabies are eating opium poppies and creating crop circles as they hop around "as high as a kite", a government official has said."[6] And then: "THE  EUROPEAN  RABBIT (Oryctolagus cuniculus L.) AS  SEED DISPERSER OF THE INVASIVE OPIUM POPPY (Papaver somniferum L.) IN ROBINSON CRUSOE  ISLAND, CHILE" http://www.scielo.org.ar/pdf/mznt/v14n1/v14n1a03.pdf "We investigated whether introduced European rabbit on Robinson Crusoe Island, Chile, has the potential to spread the seeds of the exotic  Papaver somniferum (opium poppy) via endozoochory. A total of 1320 rabbit droppings were collected during early autumn in the study area and analyzed in laboratory with binocular magnifying glass."..."Poppy seeds were dominant. Most seeds (82%) were destroyed during ingestion,but some of the intact seeds found in pellets remained viable. Germination rate of ingested seeds was similar to control seeds but germination success was lower in the former. Poppy seeds were found in pellets deposited inside poppy patches but also up to 100 m away from patches. In this way, rabbit expands the seed shadow of the plant. Our results suggest that, although poppy lacks morphological adaptations to long distance dispersal, seeds reach favorable places for seedling germination and recruitment via consumption by rabbits, an unspecialized seed disperser. Rabbit activity, together with the effect of other animals and some abiotic factors—wind and rain water, principally—contributes to the spread of poppy with implications for the management of both invasive species in the island."[7] I couldn't find a single good resource citing a link between opiates as a direct(topical)  or indirect(secondary through perspiration)  insect repellant.  The best anectdotal story I came across, though, was a hysterical recount of Michael Pollan's in "Opium Made Easy" in Harper's Magazine, April 1, 1997: http://michaelpollan.com/articles-archive/opium-made-easy/ A very strange and wonderful story about an innocent gardener wanting to grow beautiful poppies that could yield bread-seed poppies as well.  AND the mayhem (truly unbelievable mayhem) that ensued...[8]  I has to be read to be believed.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with him, Michael Pollan is an American author, journalist, activist, and professor of journalism at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. [1] http://www.amazon.com/The-Botany-Desire-Plants-Eye-World/dp/0375501290 [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Botany_of_Desire [3] http://opioids.com/narcotic-drugs/chapter-2.html [4] http://www.medicalcannabis.com/Cannabis-Science/opioid-sparing [5] http://www.kew.org/plant-cultures/plants/opium_poppy_production__trade.html [6] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8118257.stm [7] http://www.scielo.org.ar/pdf/mznt/v14n1/v14n1a03.pdf [8] http://michaelpollan.com/articles-archive/opium-made-easy/