August 2024

17 Buckden Roundabout August 2024 Poppies Poppies A sure sign of summer, the delicate flower of the poppy belies a tough plant that has, until recently, thrived with the spread of civilisation. There are around 120 species of wild poppy worldwide mainly found in the northern hemisphere. It is an annual plant that requires freshly disturbed soil to flourish, its tiny seeds lying dormant for up to 80 years waiting for the ideal conditions to germinate. It is unsure where exactly the plant originates from, but man ’ s development of agricultural techniques provided perfect con- ditions for the poppy and its spread follows farming across Asia and Europe. The archaeologist, Flinders Petrie, found poppy seeds in Egyptian grains stores dating back to 2500BC. Man has found another use for the poppy. Its milky sap con- tains the opiates morphine, codeine and thebaine all used in pain management. Of course, these compounds have other uses, and it is poppy sap that is harvested to produce heroin. Cultivars have been bred that have sap made up of over 90% of these compounds and the growing of poppies for both the medicinal and illicit drugs trade is a multi - million pound indus- try in some parts of the world. Probably due to these medicinal properties and to the blood red flowers of the commoner species, in particular our own Common or Corn Poppy, it has been associated with serenity, sleep and death. In ancient Egypt poppy designs were found on Tutankhamun ’ s jewellery and clothing and the flower was associated with Osiris the god of death. Similar connotations are found in Greek and Roman mythology with Hypnos, Nyx, Thanatos, Demeter and Ceres all associated with the poppy and poppies were a popular offering placed on tombstones. But it is of course World War 1 that truly brought the poppy to the notice of western Europe. The constant shelling and turno- ver of the ground during the battles created the perfect condi- tions and, in spring and summer, old battlefields turned a bright crimson red with poppy flowers. This led Canadian Lieu- tenant - Colonel John McCrae to write his poem ‘ In Flanders Fields ’, which in turn led to the adoption of the poppy as the flower of remembrance in the UK and further afield. Ironically it was during and after the second World War that started to see the decline of the poppy. The need to maximise agricultural production led to the widespread use of herbicides on arable crops and the days of seeing a red shimmer of flow- ers over fields of wheat are long gone. Nowadays the poppy is a denizen of road verges and waste ground. It is often included in wildflower seed mixes but after a first flowering, the bare, broken ground is rarely present for future generations. - Gregory Belcher Senior Reserves Officer - Grafham Water The Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire & Northamptonshire In Flanders ’ Fields In Flanders' fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place: and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders' fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe; To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high, If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders' Fields. - Lt Col John Macrae