Healing Properties of Poppy Plants

Opium Poppy

• The opium poppy is one of the most controversial plants in the history of medicine. Native to Turkey, the opium poppy secretes a milky white sap rich in alkaloids. This sap is dried to create the drug opium, which in turn is refined to make opiates such as morphine, codeine and heroin. These substances are highly effective in both relieving pain and inducing sleep. They are also dangerously addictive. The earliest civilizations, including the Sumerians, Babylonians and Egyptians, cultivated the opium poppy. The ancient Greek physician Hippocrates (460-370 B.C.) wrote of opium's usefulness as a narcotic. Opium use proliferated throughout Asia and the Mediterranean. In the early 17th century, opium was brought from India to England, where in 1680 it was used to create a tincture called laudanum. George Washington took laudanum regularly throughout his life for relief from severe dental pain. During the Civil War, morphine was widely used by wounded soldiers. Addiction to the drug was so prevalent after the war that it became known as "the soldier's disease." Throughout history, products derived from the opium poppy have soothed humanity's aches and pains -- often exacting the cruel price of narcotic addiction.

The California Poppy

• The California poppy has similar medicinal benefits to the opium poppy, although it is much milder, gentler and less addictive. It is even mild enough to be given to children. As an herbal remedy, California poppy tincture or extract is a relaxant and antispasmodic. It has been used to treat such ailments as insomnia, delirium, motion sickness, stress, nervousness, tense jaw and attention deficit disorder.

The Corn Poppy

• The corn poppy is also known as the field poppy, the Flanders poppy or the red poppy. It contains rhoeadine, a sleep-inducing and pain-relieving alkaloid similar to (yet safer than) opium alkaloids. The crimson flowers of this plant are traditionally used to make a soporific tea. To prepare this infusion, add 1 to 2 tsp. of dried petals to a cup of hot water. Allow the mixture to steep for 10 to 15 minutes. Consume the infusion before going to bed.