Papaver alpinum - Alpine poppy

The Alpine Poppy, in Latin Papaver alpinum, is a botanical species that grows spontaneously in mountain ranges. This small perennial herbaceous plant appears fragile and flowers in summer in scree and rocky terrain, sometimes well above 2000 m in altitude. Several subspecies have been recorded, with flowers that can be varying degrees of yellow to orange-yellow, or even white, and occasionally red.

Papaver alpinum belongs to the poppy family. It is a species endemic to the European Alps, found from Spain to Bulgaria, through France. There are 4 subspecies: subsp. alpinum with white flowers, from the central and eastern Alps, subsp. kerneri with yellow flowers, from the eastern Alps, subsp. rhaeticum the golden poppy, orange poppy or gold poppy of the French Alps (massifs of Vercors, Dévoluy, and Ventoux), and from the eastern Pyrenees, with yellow or orange flowers, rarely red or white. The last, subsp. sendtneri with white flowers, grows in the central and eastern Alps.

It is a perennial plant with a grass-like crown, covered with upright and flat hairs. Its numerous, fairly dark green leaves, are divided into lanceolate or elliptical segments. They form a very low tuft. The flowering lasts a long time from May-June to July-August depending on the climate. From the tuft of leaves, flower stalks of 20 to 30 cm emerge, devoid of leaves, each bearing a solitary flower at their tip. Each flower has 5 fine-textured petals that form a cup 4-5 cm in diameter around a beautiful cluster of golden stamens. After pollination by insects, a fruit forms which is an obovate capsule, equipped with upright bristles. Like the poppy of our meadows, the Alpine Poppy self-seeds spontaneously wherever it pleases. It is worth noting that this plant is polymorphous, its appearance can vary in nature.

To grow this alpine poppy in the garden, it is essential to provide the conditions it prefers: full sunlight, poor and stony, calcareous soil, where it can drive its root deep. Planting in a rock garden or in a stony bank will be necessary, even at the edge of a raised bed. To accompany it, consider other low rock garden plants that will not smother it: thymes, Antennaria dioica, helianthemums, Echinops, Alpine carline ...

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