Iceland Poppy

Description:

A hardy perennial plant that produces papery flowers typical of the poppies. They are actually most commonly white, but I also came across orange (as pictured), red and yellow variants. Very common around Reykjavik, found growing in the cracks of pavement etc. Also commonly cultivated as a garden plant. Contains toxic alkaloids.

Habitat:

Native to sub-polar Europe and North America. I found these pretty much everywhere in Iceland, growing at roadsides, in pavement cracks, etc. The flowers pictured here were found growing at the side of Tjornin Lake.

Notes:

These flowers were hard to get a good picture of because it was often windy! The petals are papery so move around in the wind a lot, as well as having very long, bendy stems. Beautiful flowers though.