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Papaveraceae
Horned Poppy
Glaucium flavum
Coastal resilience and fierce beauty.
- Family
- Papaveraceae
- Genus
- Glaucium
- Native to
- Mediterranean Europe, North Africa, western Asia
- Bloom season
- Summer
- Type
- biennial or short-lived perennial
- Height
- 30–90 cm
- Sunlight
- full sun
- Soil
- sandy, well-drained, poor
- Water
- low; drought-tolerant
- Hardiness
- 5–9
- Lifespan
- biennial to short-lived perennial
Did you know
- The 'horn' refers to the extraordinarily long seed pods — up to 30 cm — that curve like a bull's horn.
- Its waxy, blue-grey foliage is specially adapted to resist salt spray and seaside wind.
- The sap is bright orange-yellow and contains toxic alkaloids; it was once used as a folk remedy despite its dangers.
- Horned poppies thrive on shingle beaches where almost nothing else grows, stabilizing the shifting stones.
- In the UK it is protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act and may not be uprooted from the wild.
Color meanings
Yellow
bold survival
Orange
coastal fortitude