The notoriety of Papaver somniferum, the “sleep-inducing poppy,” is only partly to do with its outlaw family. Opium poppies are grown for their edible seeds and for pharmaceutical uses. The type that ...

Part 1. Opium in antiquity. The mysterious origins of the opium poppy ; Papyruses and poppies ; A journey around the Mediterranean. Part 2. Opium and the birth of modern medicine. Classic cures, ...

Characteristic features of plants, such as their active ingredients or flower color, may have developed through very different evolutionary histories. This is shown by an international study on the ...

Opium is a highly addictive drug. It’s made from juice extracted from the unripe seed pods of opium poppy plants (the scientific name is Papaver somniferum). Opium is used to make a class of drugs ...