Poppies near Smith’s Dock, North Shields
Papaver rhoeas, with common names including common poppy,corn poppy, corn rose, field poppy, Flanders poppy, and red poppy, is an annual herbaceous species of flowering plant in the poppy family Papaveraceae. It is notable as an agricultural weed (hence the common names including “corn” and “field”) and after World War I as a symbol of dead soldiers.
Before the advent of herbicides, P. rhoeas was sometimes abundant in agricultural fields. The corn poppy and its cultivars such as the Shirley poppy are widely grown in gardens.