Growing form

Biennial or perennial herb. Loosely tufted.
Height

30–40 cm (12–16 in.). Stem leafless, brownish-haired scape.
Flower

Regular (actinomorphic), 5–6 cm (2–2.5 in.) wide. Petals 4, yellow, sometimes yellowish red or red, rarely white. Sepals 2, fall as flower opens. Stamens many. Pistil of several fused carpels. Flowers solitary, terminating scape.
Leaves

In basal rosette, long-stalked. Blade pinnately lobed, thin, bluish green.
Fruit

Narrowly club-like, 12–21 mm (0.48–0.84 in.) long, glabrous or sparsely haired capsule. Stigma-disc with 6–8 rays.
Habitat

Meadows, roadsides, landfill areas and wasteland. Ornamental, quite often an escape.
Flowering time

June–August.

Iceland poppy is a popular and hardy ornamental plant in rockeries, and it quite often escapes into the wild. In garden centres it is often sold under the name Papaver nudicaule, but this is actually a different species.

The majority of species in the genus Poppy favour a reasonably warm climate, but the group also includes Arctic and Alpine species. Iceland poppy’s close relatives live in cold northern parts and in the mountains of Eurasia and North America. Closer to Finland, these fell poppies grow on northern Sweden’s Pältsa Fell to the southwest of Kilpisjärvi, and Helliskogen in Norway, between Lyngen fjord and the Finnish border. Iceland poppy can be found wild almost all over Finland. Its more established stands are in northern Finland and on the other hand in the south too.

Atlasunikko

Papaver atlanticum

NOT TRANSLATED YET. Meillä varmimmin puutarhoissa tavattava, mutta niissäkin harvinainen (punertavan)keltakukkainen atlasunikko muistuttaa ainakin äkkiä katsomalla siperianunikkoa. Monista koristekasviunikoistamme on puutarhaliikkeissä myytävissä jalostettuja versioita ja aina ei voi olla ihan varma, onko kyseessä aito, “se oikea” versio hankkimastamme unikkolajista. Atlasunikon tuntomerkkejä ovat vastapuikeat, isohampaiset-liuskaiset lehdet, karvaiset varret, oranssinpunaiset terälehdet, kalju kota, jossa yleensä 6 luottisädettä.

→ Distribution map (Kasviatlas, Universty of Helsinki)

Iceland Poppy

Taxonomy

Order

Family

Subfamily

Genus

Species