Opium. The Flowers of Evil

poppies have four petals in white, violet, pink, or red. They surround a star-shaped stigma from which at least five and up to sixteen ’rays’ fan out. A single pistil (containing from 150 to 200 stamens) is surrounded by five concentric circles. Fertilisation produces from 800 to 2,000 seeds. The true opium-producing plant, Papaver somniferum L., is a member of the poppy family Papaveraceae. There are over 100 species in that family, several with many varieties. Most are found in temperate Asia and in central and southern Europe, not in the fields of California.

areful observers will notice that typical opium pop

opium is a narcotic drug. When it was studied more closely, researchers learned that opium is obtained from the juice of the immature fruits of the Oriental poppy.

(Eschscholtzia californica) is in fact a wildflower in the buttercup family. It produces no capsule and therefore is not actually a member of the poppy family, albeit at first glance it certainly looks like its capsule-bearing cousin.

Opium has definitely been shown to relieve pain, reduce hunger and thirst, induce restful sleep, and reduce anxiety. However, like other great gifts to mankind, opium can either be of great benefit or be fatal, depending on how, when, and why people use it.