Poppy Flower With Paper Thin Orange Petals Stock Photography

Poppies are herbaceous annual, biennial or short-lived perennial plants. Some species are monocarpic, dying after flowering. Poppies can be over a meter tall with flowers up to 15 centimeters across. Flowers of species not cultivars have 4 to 6 petals, many stamens forming a conspicuous whorl in the center of the flower and an ovary of from 2 to many fused carpels. The petals are showy, may be of almost any color and some have markings. The petals are crumpled in the bud and as blooming finishes, the petals often lie flat before falling away. In the temperate zones, poppies bloom from spring into early summer. In NYS bloom time is usually May through June. Most species secrete latex when injured. Bees use poppies as a pollen source.