Welsh Poppy

Papaver cambricum has pinnately divided leaves composed of pinnately divided leaflets. The plant can grow between 30–60 cm (12–24 in) tall. It blooms between May and July. The flower is distinctively yellow or orange with four petals, and coarsely hairy green sepals that fall off soon after the flower opens. It spreads easily from the numerous small black seeds produced in the summer, from a long, ribbed capsule that opens with flaps.

Papaver cambricum is endemic to upland areas of Western Europe; it is found natively in the mountains of the Iberian Peninsula, the Pyrenees, the Massif Central and some western parts of the British Isles (Wales, south-western England and parts of Ireland). It has, however, been widely naturalised outside its native range. Papaver cambricum lives in damp, shady places on rocky ground. In its most western locations, it is increasingly found on more open ground with less cover. It is especially well adapted to colonising gaps and crevices in rocks and stones. This habit has enabled it to colonise the urban environment, growing between paving slabs and at the edges of walls.

On 24 February 2006, the Welsh political party Plaid Cymru adopted a stylised image of P. cambricum as its party logo.