Why wear a poppy on Memorial Day?
By Chelsie Vandaveer
May 27, 2002
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John Gerard (The Herbal, 1633 ed.), "Of Corne-rose or wild Poppy...They grow in arable grounds, among wheat, spelt, rye, barley, oats, and other grains, and in the borders of fields...The fields are garnished and overspread with these wild poppies in June and August."
The red poppy (Papaver rhoeas Linnaeus) is native to Eurasia. Ecologically, this annual species is a pioneer, invading fields and places of disturbed soils. The red poppy filled a niche or role when the world was wild, and became a weed in a world under cultivation.
Though considered a weed, Gerard spoke kindly of the flowers, "The stalks of red Poppy be black, tender, and brittle, somewhat hairy: the leaves are cut round about with deep gashes...the flowers grow forth at the tops of the stalks, being of a beautiful and gallant red color..."
A sergeant-major, Cyril Allinson said the wind was blowing gently on the morning of May 3, 1915. No fields in Flanders were under cultivation during those years; the land was devastated by the Second Battle of Ypres. Major John McCrae, a Canadian surgeon, later wrote that it had been "Seventeen days of Hades!" in the battle dressing station on Essex Farm.
But on that morning, McCrae sat alone writing a poem. He had buried a friend the night before. Allinson is said the first to read the poem "...an exact description of the scene." Three hundred and eighteen years after Gerard wrote of the gallant red color; McCrae wrote, "In Flanders fields the poppies blow between the crosses, row on row...."
Lost Poets of the Great War, a hypertext document by Harry Rusche of the English Department of Emory University has "In Flanders Fields" posted. To read the poem written by John McCrae, click on the link:
http://www.emory.edu/ENGLISH/LostPoets/McCrae.html 
To learn more about the U.S. Memorial Day, click on the link:
http://www.usmemorialday.org/backgrnd.html
killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~
Suggested Reading:
How did the rubber tree change war? Plants that Changed History - September 24, 2002
What is Napalm? Plants that Changed History - October 8, 2002
What is Harry Lauder's walking stick? What's in a Name? - March 11, 2005
What is khaki? Herbal Folklore - May 26, 2003
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