Cailleach Dhearg
Latin name: Papaver rhoeas
One of the most attractive wildflowers growing in Ireland, the common poppy bursts to life from June to September. These scarlet red flowers can set the whole countryside ablaze, growing in cornfields, ditches and wastelands. Such a view from a distance can be breath-taking.
Poppies growing along a laneway
Poppies growing along a laneway
Poppies growing along a laneway
When you get up close, you will find that these striking flowers are really quite delicate.
A circular group of stamens (male part of the flower that consists of long stalks with pollen sacs on top) grow at the centre of the poppy. They are protected by the red, paper-thin, crinkly petals that are silky to touch.
The stem of the poppy is long and very hairy, and the leaves are deep green with jagged edges.
Did you know that the common poppy sheds its petals after just one day?
If you lived in front of a whole field of poppies, you probably would never notice the petals falling off because a single poppy plant can produce more than 400 flowers, one after another.
It is amazing to think that each poppy plant can produce about 50,000 seeds. What’s even more amazing is that these seeds can survive for up to eighty years!
Today, poppy seeds are popular in baking and are often sprinkled on top of bread to give it an extra flavour and crunch.
The poppy as a symbol
A delicate, scarlet, common poppy wildflower
A delicate, scarlet, common poppy wildflower
A delicate, scarlet, common poppy wildflower
Long ago in Ireland, the poppy was known as the witch’s flower. This is where the Irish name for poppy comes from as ‘cailleach dhearg’ translates to ‘red hag’.
Sometimes poppies are seen as a symbol of death because of their blood-red colour.
Poppies are also worn on Remembrance Day in Britain. They grew in the fields of Flanders after the battles of the First World War, and are worn in memory of all the soldiers who died in that war.