There are, however, an immense number of very tiny seeds in
each seed-case, as we see by opening the round cup-like case on a stem
from which the flower has fallen. This great number of seeds adds to the
difficulty of getting rid of poppies.
We, I am afraid, are hardly sorry that the poppies are among the corn
to-day. The glorious scarlet blossoms give a rich fiery tint to the
whole field.
On a Poppy plant close to the gate there are several blossoms. Some
of them are fully open, some of them are still only buds. You see a
difference between the open flowers and the buds at once. The open
flowers stand upright on the stalk; the buds hang down.
Here is a bud just opening. The green case, called the calyx, which
contains the scarlet petals, is already partly open; it is splitting in
half, and the flower will soon be out. Then the calyx will fall off.
Here is a blossom from which the calyx has just dropped. The four large
scarlet petals, two of which are slightly larger than the other two,
have lain inside all crumpled up--not neatly folded as is the case with
most flowers.
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