Pop″py (?), n.; pl.Poppies (#). [OE. popy, AS. popig, L. papaver.] (Bot.) Any plant or species of the genus Papaver, herbs with showy polypetalous flowers and a milky juice. From one species (Papaver somniferum) opium is obtained, though all the species contain it to some extent; also, a flower of the plant. See Illust. of Capsule.
California poppy(Bot.), any yellow-flowered plant of the genus Eschscholtzia. — Corn poppy. See under Corn. — Horn, orHorned, poppy. See under Horn. — Poppy bee(Zoöl.), a leaf-cutting bee (Anthocopa papaveris) which uses pieces cut from poppy petals for the lining of its cells; — called also upholsterer bee. — Prickly poppy(Bot.), Argemone Mexicana, a yellow-flowered plant of the Poppy family, but as prickly as a thistle. — Poppy seed, the seed the opium poppy (P. somniferum). — Spatling poppy(Bot.), a species of Silene (S. inflata). See Catchfly.