Why did poppies proliferate more than any other flower on the fields of Flanders after World War I?

robboy

It's been fun exploring that phenomenon, gmack, and apparantly it's because of their ability to stay dormant longer than most wild flowers, and the inspiration for the famous poem apparently was when McCrae noted the flowers blooming in the trenches and bomb craters where the soil had been disturbed. http://www.aiipowmia.com/histories/aiihistpoppy.html Nov 11 05, 7:20 AM

Flem-ish

By the way blue cornflowers were, and still are, just as prolific in Flanders as red poppies, but did not have the right colour connotations, as mentioned by Paul Fussell in "The Great War and Modern Memory". http://www.whatalovelywar.co.uk/war/2004/11/red_poppy.html Nov 13 05, 7:09 PM

gmackematix

Inappropriately for a question about Remembrance Day, I forgot to thank Rob for his answer. You were saying about cornflowers and apparently it is the corn poppy that is used in the celebrations. Papaver rhoeas, to give it its scientific name, is a flower that thrives in churned up soil. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn_poppy Nov 13 05, 9:42 PM

Flem-ish

Also see http://www.humanflowerproject.com where the proliferation is attributed to "the rubble produced from fighting" which "introduced great quantities of lime into the soil". It is also mentioned that already in ancient Greece poppy symbolism played a role in rites of remembrance, and a link with the narcotic effect of opium is suggested. That France prefers the blue cornflower for Remembrance Day was illustrated on 12th of November 1998, when in a joint ceremony in Paris the French President and the Queen of Britain celebrated the 80th anniversary of the end of the Great War. The Queen placed a wreath of red poppies on the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Chirac offered a similar wreath of blue cornflowers. Nov 14 05, 1:16 AM