r/botany • u/ToughLucky3220 • 6d ago

Ecology Poppy in cereal crop fields?

Hi, I’ve been wondering why poppies, often with their striking red flowers, seem to appear in wheat/barley crop fields.

I’ve seen this phenomenon in different locations more than three times and I wonder if there is a reason for it.

My research attempts have not been very fruitful. Apparently, the hardiness of the grass gives floppy-stemmed poppies structure, and the poppy’s strikingness attracts pollinators. But is it really mutualism if grasses are wind pollinators? Is it to do with soil quality?

I live in the UK and it seems poppies were previously considered ‘weeds’ in crop fields. Is it simply that they thrive in the same conditions, or is there an ecological relationship between the two?

Thanks in advance.

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u/Jolly_Atmosphere_951 6d ago

That's because poppies are a pioneer species that appears after a disturbance, and soil tilling is a kind of disturbance.

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u/ToughLucky3220 5d ago

Makes sense, thank you!

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u/GnaphaliumUliginosum 6d ago edited 6d ago

They are weeds that were all but eliminated by improved seed-cleaning techniques and selective herbicides. Some farming subsidies encourage allowing or deliberately sowing some 'weed species', often in the field margins to encourage invertebrates, birds and other biodiversity.

Edit: there is a cohort of 'weed' species that are adapted to the same conditions as cereal crops and which have followed them as wheat/barley agriculture spread from the fertile crescent. This includes several poppy species, cornflowers, corn cockle, corn chamomile, corn marigold and many others. They only persisted because it was never economic to fully hand-weed the grain crops. Many are now very rare or endangered. They provide biodiversity benefits but compete with the crop for light, nutrients and water so reduce crop yields.

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u/ToughLucky3220 5d ago

That’s really interesting! thank you for sharing. I will be going down this rabbit hole. Do you know the cause of them being endangered or rare despite being (presumably) pioneer species?