Poppy Heads

s), and seeds (in bowl)]] The poppy seed is mentioned in ancient medical texts from many civilizations. For instance, the Egyptian Ebers Papyrus, written c. 1550 BCE, lists the poppy seed as a sedative. The Minoan civilization (approximately 2700 to 1450 BCE), a Bronze Age civilization which arose on the island of Crete, cultivated poppies for their seeds, and used a mixture of milk, opium and honey to calm crying babies. The Sumerians are another civilization that are known to have grown poppy seeds.

Poppy seeds are less than a millimeter in length, kidney-shaped, and have a pitted surface. It takes about 3,300 poppy seeds to make up a gram, and between 1 and 2 million seeds to make up a pound. The seeds are cultivated for the flowers they produce. Annual and biennial poppies are used to cultivate from seed as they are not difficult to propagate, and can be put directly in the ground during winter. The California poppy (Eschscholzia californica), for example, is a striking orange wildflower that grows in the Western and Northwestern United States.