Maurice Godefridi

· 02 Oct 2020

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In the name of... the poppy

The names of the poppy

Poppies were always very well-known, “popular” plants. This is proved by the many (folk) names, which, by the way, point to very different characteristics of the plant. Some really speak to the imagination: dull pink, kollebloem, red col, korepater, cancer flower, red choir flower, flapper, weulverbloem, droppings of soldiers, thunderflower, warflower, death flower, moonhead, roseweed, cornheul, heulflower, choir rose,...

The common name 'poppy' would be derived from the Celtic 'poppy' which means' porridge 'or' mush 'and the Latin' verum 'which means' real 'or 'true'. This refers to the old habit of stirring poppy juice through the porridge in order to calm down crying babies or get them to sleep. 'Rhoeas' may come from the Greek 'rhuan' or 'rhyas' which means' falling 'and indicates the rapid fall of the petals. The name can also come from the Greek 'Rhodeos' or 'red' to the red color of the flowers.

According to the German botanist and physician Hieronymus Bock (1498-1554), the poppy was named after the flapping or rattling sound that the ripe seeds make in the seed boxes when shaken. Another explanation connects the name to an ancient children's game where petals were folded into a kind of bag that, if you slapped it, jumped open with a clapping sound. This game was also described by the German physician Leonhard Fuchs (1501-1566), explaining the German name 'Clapperroose'. The second part “rose” naturally refers to the flower shape and the red color of many roses.

Another ancient name for this plant is “colleflower.” In 1543 Fuchs mentions' Colle 'and' Colbloemen ', Dodoens notes 'Collebloem' in 1618. The word 'kol' may indicate the similarity of the smooth box fruit with a bare cup. But because the 'colleflower' usually grows in the corn, the name can also be a corruption of 'cornflower'. Dodoens also calls the big poppy 'wilden heul', in which 'heul' is derived from the Middle Dutch 'oele', which originated from the Latin 'oleum'. For example, the name refers to the oil that can be extracted from poppy plants.
The name 'cancer flower' would indicate that farmers found her a 'cancer' in the field, but folk practice reports that the flower would help both against cancer, but could also cause cancer.
The name 'poppy' is also associated with the flower's ability to clap densely in rainy weather. In Flanders she is also called “thunderflower” or “thunderflower”. In Wallonia this becomes' tonnoire ', after 'tonnerre'. In earlier times they also tried to defuse storms with the help of the poppy. Large bouquets of thunderflowers were picked to be blessed in the church. When a thunderstorm threat was set up afterwards, the blessed plants were set on fire.

#klaproos #papaver
https://dier-en-natuur.infonu.nl/bloemen-en-planten/71848-klaproos-botanisch-poetisch-en-medicinaal.html