Oreomecon nudicaulis, synonym Papaver nudicaule, the Iceland poppy, is a boreal flowering plant. It is native to subpolar regions of Asia and the Yukon in North America (but not Iceland), and has been introduced elsewhere (south Argentina, Colorado, Greenland, and Tibet). Iceland poppies are hardy but short-lived perennials, often grown as biennials. They yield large, papery, bowl-shaped, lightly fragrant flowers supported by hairy, curved stems among feathery blue-green foliage 1âÂÂ6 inches long. They were first described by botanists in 1759. The wild species blooms in white or yellow, and is hardy from USDA Zones 3a-10b.
The first scientific name of Oreomecon nudicaulis was Papaver nudicaule, given to the species in 1753 by Linnaeus. In 2021 the new genus Oreomecon was described by Enrico Augusto Banfi, Fabrizio Bartolucci, Jean-Marc Tison, and Gabriele Galasso including Oreomecon nudicaulis. According to Plants of the World Online (POWO) this is the accepted name of the species, though Papaver nudicaule continues to be used in some sources. In POWO it has three accepted subspecies:
Oreomecon nudicaulis has synonyms of the species or one of its three subspecies.
The Latin specific epithet nudicaulis means "with bare stems". The common name Icelandic poppy is a source of confusion as the species is not native to Iceland or Europe.
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, 1 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 (elsewhere this strain's buds frequently fail to open).
The dwarf Gartenzwerg group, and the cultivars 'Solar Fire Orange' and 'Summer Breeze Orange' have all won the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
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 2âÂÂ3 seasons, flowering from early spring to fall.
Iceland poppies are amongst the best poppies for cutting, as they last for several days in the vase.
The genetics of the garden forms of O. nudicaulis have been studied, particularly with respect to flower colour. 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, containing (like all poppies) toxic alkaloids. In particular, O. nudicaulis has been shown to contain the benzophenanthidine alkaloid, chelidonine. It also contains (+)-amurine, (-)-amurensinine, (-)-O-methylthalisopavine, (-)-flavinantine and (-)-amurensine.