Poppy Seed

Poppy seed

Poppy seeds are a type of oilseed obtained from the poppy plant. The tiny, kidney-shaped seeds have been harvested from dried seed pods by various civilizations for thousands of years. Poppy seeds are widely used in many countries, especially in Central Europe and South Asia, where they are legally grown, used in food products, and sold in shops. The seeds are used either whole, or ground into meal as an ingredient in many foods – especially in pastry and bread. It is also possible to press poppyseeds into edible poppyseed oil.

Poppy

A poppy is a flowering plant in the subfamily Papaveroideae of the family Papaveraceae. Poppies are herbaceous plants, often grown for their colourful flowers. One species of poppy, Papaver somniferum, is the source of the narcotic drug mixture opium, which contains powerful medicinal alkaloids such as morphine and has been used since ancient times as an analgesic and narcotic medicinal and recreational drug. It also produces edible seeds. Following the trench warfare in the poppy fields of Flanders, Belgium, during World War I, poppies, specifically the red poppy, have become a symbol of remembrance of soldiers who have died during wartime, especially in the UK, Canada, Australia, Africa and other Commonwealth realms.

Seed

In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a testa. More generally, the term seed means anything that can be sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds are the product of the ripened ovule, after the embryo sac is fertilized by sperm from pollen, forming a zygote. The embryo within a seed develops from the zygote and grows within the mother plant to a certain size before growth is halted.

poppy seed

Noun

1. The seed of the poppy, used as a flavouring in bread.