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Pests and weeds

Red poppy

Characteristics:
The red poppy has a straight step standing 60 to 80 centimetres high, with median leaves that do not wrap, and oblong or pointed lobes. Its flower has red petals, with a black mark at the base: it flowers from May to June and sometimes in autumn too, for a second flowering. The plant has thin bristles, even towards the top of the stem, and on the toothed edge of the leaves, whilst the filament of its stamen is pointed. It is a common plant and can grow in cultivated fields, amongst wheat, along hedges up to 1700 metres high. Its flowers and seeds retain their properties even after having been dried. The poppy is sometimes used in paediatrics, and its slightly sedative properties mean that it is used in tisanes with other herbs, to sedate coughs and whooping cough, or as an expectorant to treat bronchitis. Its tender shoots are used in the kitchen to prepare vegetable soups. Boiled, they can be dressed and eaten as spinach. After boiling, dressed with olive oil and a few drops of lemon juice with a little salt, they can be eaten as salad.