This is the cornfield poppy which gives that splash of red against the yellow ripening crop and looks so good. The other common poppy is P. dubium (Long-headed Poppy) but that is distinctly a paler more towards the orange shade of red. The seed head is also a quite different shape. This plant is very common as its name suggests and you find it in many different habitats. It does seem to be one of those plants where the seed bank stays viable for a long time and which germinates when disturbed. In the first summer after the M1 link north from the M62 was finished, the recently built embankments were crowded with thousands of P. rhoeas which diminished to a tenth of their numbers the following year and now are hardly seen at all.
Pensarn Beach , Abergele 25th April 2005
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Added on 1st May 2005