Papaver somniferum × bracteatum

Papaver somniferum × bracteatum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Ranunculales
Family:	Papaveraceae
Tribe:	Papavereae
Genus:	Papaver
Species:	P. somniferum × P. bracteatum

Papaver somniferum × Papaver bracteatum, also known as Sagan's poppy is a hybrid between the opium poppy and the Iranian poppy.

This hybrid, true poppy is diploid with 18 chromosomes and exhibits strongly reduced fitness relative to parents, possibly due to unpaired chromosomes since the Iranian and opium poppies do not have the same number. The clearest example of its reduced fitness is seen through semilethal dwarfism, with about 53.4% of specimens grown exhibiting dwarfism. While this hybrid does not possess the cold hardiness of the Iranian poppy (Papaver bracteatum), it does possess notably more cold tolerance than Papaver somniferum and in a greenhouse or protected setting could be grown as a perennial. Another notable feature of this hybrid is that it contains a higher concentration of morphinian alkaloids (including morphine) than any known cultivar of Papaver somniferum or Papaver bracteatum. This is despite one of its parents (Papaver bracteatum) producing negligible concentrations of morphine and is believed to be due to a greater expression of one of the rate-limiting enzymes of morphine synthesis.

References

• Böhm, H.; Nixdorf, H. (1983). "Quality and quantity of morphinan alkaloids detectable in interspecific hybrids of the genus papaver*". Planta Medica. 48 (8): 193–204. doi:10.1055/s-2007-969920. PMID 17404983. S2CID 84574080.
• Ojala, Arja; Rousi, Arne (1986). "Interspecific hybridization in Papaver: 1. F". Annales Botanici Fennici. 23 (4): 289–303. JSTOR 23726199.