opium poppies
Morphine source plants
Opium poppies are flowering plants (*Papaver somniferum*) cultivated for the milky latex in their seed pods, which contains morphine, codeine, and other alkaloids.
This latex is the source of opium and its derivatives, including heroin.
The plants are also grown legally for their edible seeds (poppy seeds) and ornamental flowers.
Fields of opium poppies stretched across the valley.
- narcoticAddictive sedative drug
- analgesicPain-relieving medication
- pain reliefEasing of discomfort
- addictionsUncontrollable substance dependencies
- alkaloidNitrogenous plant compound
medicinal · flower petals · sedative · seed pod · codeine · laudanum · overdoses · latex · morphine · Golden Triangle · Hindu Kush · annual plant · Papaver somniferum · pharmacology · Silk Road · controlled substance · drug trade · colonial trade
- AfghanistanKabul, Kandahar, Pashtun, Tajik, Helmand
- Northern MexicoChihuahua, Ciudad Juarez, Juarez, Sierra Madre, Sonora
opium poppiesfood crops
Plants cultivated for consumption
wheat · medicinal herbs · corn · victory gardens · vegetable gardens