CHAP. 53.—THE POPPY.
There are certain plants which are grown in company1200 with others, the poppy, for instance, sown with cabbages and purslain, and rocket with lettuce. Of the cultivated poppy1201 there are three kinds, the first being the white1202 poppy, the seed of which, parched, and mixed with honey, used to be served up in the second course at the tables of the ancients; at the present day, too, the country people sprinkle it on the upper crust of their bread, making it adhere by means of the yolk of eggs, the under crust being seasoned with parsley and gith to heighten the flavour of the flour. The second kind is the black1203 poppy, from which, upon an incision being made in the stalk, a milky juice distils; and the third is that known to the Greeks by the name of “rhœas;”1204 and by us as the wild poppy. This last grows spontaneously, but in fields, more particularly, which have been sown with barley: it bears a strong resemblance to rocket, grows to the height of a cubit, and bears a red flower, which quickly fades; it is to this flower that it is indebted for its Greek name.1205
As to the other kinds of poppies which spring up spontaneously, we shall have occasion to speak of them when treating of the medicinal plants.1206 That the poppy has always been held in esteem among the Romans, we have a proof in the story related of Tarquinius1207 Superbus, who, by striking down the tallest poppies in his garden, surreptitiously conveyed, unknown to them, his sanguinary message through the envoys who had been sent by his son.