Red Poppy Flower
The national flower of Belgium is Red poppy. It belongs to Papaveraceae family and subfamily Papaveroideae. Red Poppies are nonwoody annual plant having a life cycle lasting two seasons or short-lived lasting for three seasons or more plants. Some kinds are (monocarpic), dying after bearing fruit only once.
Height: The plant can be over 4 feet tall with flowers up to six inches across.
Number of Petals: The Red Poppy flower have 4 to 6 petals, many stamens forming a visible curl in the center of the flower and an ovary consisting of from 2 to many merged carpels.
The petals are showy may be of almost any color and some have markings. The petals are uneven in the bud as blooming finishes. The petals often lie uniformly before falling away.
Belgium flowers are in full bloom late spring to early summer. Most species secrete fluid when injured. Bees use poppies as a pollen source. The pollen of the Oriental poppy, Papaver orientale, is dark blue, that of the field or corn poppy (Papaver rhoeas) is gray to dark green.
The opium poppy, Papaver is mainly grown in eastern and southern Asia, and South Eastern Europe. It is believed that it originated in the Mediterranean region.
10 Facts about Red Poppy Flower: you should know
- Red poppy is the native and most popular flower of Belgium country.
- Poppy have one special kind ( Papaver somniferum). It is the source of the rough drug opium which contains powerful medicinal alkaloids such as morphine and has been used since ancient times as an analgesic and narcotic medicinal and recreational drugs.
- The flower seeds and oil are popular for boiling and cooking. If you have spare seeds you can put them in your backyard bird feeder.
- The use of opium poppies goes back to an ancient civilization, which recorded their use in the form of images.
- In Mexico, a company Grupo Modelo, the makers of Corona beer, used red poppy flowers in most of its advertising images until the 1960s.
- In Persian literature, red corn poppies quote as the flower of love.
- Flowers of Belgium highlighted on the back of Canadian $20 notes.
- One type of poppies features on the Royal College of Anaesthetists coat of arms.
- After world war-II, Poppies became the symbol of both tragedy and renewal of life
- In different cultures the flower meaning Peace in death , Beauty and success.
Red Poppy Flower Meaning
The meaning of the Red Poppy Flower varies greatly from country to country, but most of them share at least one or two common meanings for this particular flower.
All the native and popular Poppies used for landscaping, grown for edible seeds, or used for medicine uses the common name of Papaver.
This name is derived from the Latin word for milk, papa, because of the white and opaque liquid strength that drops out when the stem or seed shell is cut. Some of the most widely used grown types of Poppies include the Papaver somniferous, the Papaver orientale, and the Eschscholzia California.
The Belgium national flower red poppy also has different flower meaning for many cultures.
Restful sleep and recovery, Consolation for a loss or death in the family, remembering the fallen of various wars and armed conflicts. Flower color meaning of a Poppy varies greatly.
Some common connections include:
Red -Linked to death, remembrance, and consolation in the West. Symbolizes success and love in the East.
White – Used for funerals and memorials in the East, sleep and peaceful rest in the West.
Purple, Pink, Blue –represent imagination, luxury, and success.
Why is Red Poppy the National flower of Belgium ?
Since the early time, flowers have attracted us with their unique beauty and cool fragrances. But some of these exceptional ‘gifts of nature’ possess unbelievable characteristics that are unknown to many of us. Here we will discuss some interesting facts about Belgium flowers, both rare varieties and those we see regularly.
State Flowers are a special design or visual object representing a quality, type, expression, and culture etc. Emblems and symbols signify country.
Particular national flowers have traditional or religious origins that go back hundreds or even thousands of years some are consulted by government bodies which may or may not have been officially accepted. Whereas others become familiar due to public interest.
The Red Poppy is one of the most widely used symbolic flowers around the world. Ancient Greek, Egyptian, and Roman societies linked it with the world.
After world war two and In late 1914, the fields of Northern France and Flanders were once again ripped open as World War One WW-I treated cruelly through Europe’s heart.
Once the conflict was over the poppy was one of the only plants to grow on the unproductive battlefields. The significance of the poppy as a lasting memorial symbol to the fallen was realized by the Canadian surgeon John McCrae in his poem In Flanders Fields.
The poppy came to represent the immeasurable sacrifice made by his comrades and quickly became a lasting memorial to those who died in World War One and later conflicts.
It was adopted by The Royal British Legion as the symbol for their Poppy Appeal, in aid of those serving in the British Armed Forces, after its formation in 1921. Due to war history and popularity in different countries cultures, the red poppy becomes the national flower of Belgium country.
Some other famous and popular Belgium national flowers are: remembrance poppy and red carnation and sunflower.