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New page: The '''poppy''' is a flower (properly, a herb) of the genus ''Papaver'', having large flowers, often a vivid red, and a milky sap. The '''opium poppy''' has white flowers and is cultivat...
The '''poppy''' is a flower (properly, a herb) of the genus ''Papaver'', having large flowers, often a vivid red, and a milky sap.
The '''opium poppy''' has white flowers and is cultivated in some parts of the world (especially [[Afghanistan]]) for the production of [[opium]] and [[heroin]].
In the [[United Kingdom]] the poppy is the symbol of mourning for war dead. Money is raised for the support of wounded soldiers by the sale of small paper poppies. This tradition derives from the [[First World War]] when the growth of poppies on the battlefields of the Western Front was immortalised in the 1915 poem ''In Flanders' Fields'' by John McCrae:
''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.''
The '''opium poppy''' has white flowers and is cultivated in some parts of the world (especially [[Afghanistan]]) for the production of [[opium]] and [[heroin]].
In the [[United Kingdom]] the poppy is the symbol of mourning for war dead. Money is raised for the support of wounded soldiers by the sale of small paper poppies. This tradition derives from the [[First World War]] when the growth of poppies on the battlefields of the Western Front was immortalised in the 1915 poem ''In Flanders' Fields'' by John McCrae:
''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.''