Papaver nudicaule

Cultivars come in shades of yellow, orange, salmon, rose, pink, cream and white as well as bi-colored varieties. Seed strains include: ‘Champagne Bubbles’ (15-inch plants in orange, pink, scarlet, apricot, yellow, and creamy-white); ‘Wonderland’ (10-inch dwarf strain with flowers up to 4 inches wide); ‘Flamenco’ (pink shades, bordered white, 1½ to 2 feet tall); ‘Party Fun’ (to 1 foot, said to bloom reliably the first year in autumn and the second spring); ‘Illumination’ and ‘Meadow Pastels’ (to 2 feet, perhaps the tallest strains); ‘Matador’ (scarlet flowers to 5 inches across on 16 inch plants); the perennial 'Victory Giants' with red petals and ‘Oregon Rainbows’, which has large selfed, bicolor, and picoteed flowers and is perhaps the best strain for the cool Pacific Northwest[7] (elsewhere this strain’s buds frequently fail to open).

The dwarf Gartenzwerg group,[8] and the cultivars ‘Solar Fire Orange’[9] and ‘Summer Breeze Orange’[10] have all won the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit.[11]

Color variations

White

Orange

Red

Pink

Yellow

White is the dominant color, the others being recessive.

Bud capsule remains on a flower

The plants prefer light, well-drained soil and full sun. The plants are not hardy in hot weather, perishing within a season in hot summer climates.

Iceland poppies, like all poppies, possess exceedingly minute seeds and long taproots that resent disturbance. In cool summer climates on well-drained soils, Iceland poppies can live 2-3 seasons, flowering from early spring to fall.[12]

Iceland poppies are amongst the best poppies for cutting, as they last for several days in the vase.[13]

The genetics of the garden forms of P. nudicaule have been studied, particularly with respect to flower colour.[14] The white flower colour is dominant with respect to yellow. Other colours, such as buff and orange, are recessive.

All parts of this plant are likely to be poisonous,[15] containing (like all poppies) toxic alkaloids. In particular, P. nudicaule has been shown to contain the benzophenanthidine alkaloid, chelidonine.[16] It also contains (+)-amurine, (-)-amurensinine, (-)-O-methylthalisopavine, (-)-flavinantine and (-)-amurensine.[17]