Blue poppy

For over 100 more modifications of Si Wu Tang, see my How to Write a TCMHerbal Formula, Blue Poppy Press, Boulder, CO, 1993. 

Some mushrooms, some cocoa powders, dark chocolate, blue poppy seeds, semi-finished products from poppy seeds, marine mussels... 

Kidneys and livers from swine, cattle and sheep, most mushrooms, some baked goods with blue poppy seeds Wheat, wheat flour, wheat bread, bran, potatoes, root and foliage vegetables, rice, shrimp... 

Sionneau, R, and B. Flaws. 1995. Pao zhi An introduction to the use of processed Chinese medicinals. Boulder, CO Blue Poppy Enterprises, Inc. 

Liang, L. 2004. Acupuncture IVF. Bordder, CO Blue Poppy Enterprises. 

There are many naturally occurring indicators. For instance, a single compound is responsible for the colors of red poppies and blue cornflowers the pH of the sap is different in the two plants. The color of hydrangeas also depends on the acidity of their sap and can be controlled by modifying the acidity of the soil (Fig. 11.11). 

It is also astonishing how the rich blue of a cornflower (Centaurea cyanus) and the majestic red flame of the com poppy (Papaver rheas) each derive from the same chromophore - again based on an anthrocyanidin. The pH of cornflower and poppy sap does not vary with soil composition, which explains why we see neither red cornflowers nor blue com poppies. 

The opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) is a blue-grey annual plant growing 30 to 150 cm in height (Robbers et al. 1996 Gruenwald et al. 

From a horticultural standpoint, the opium poppy is quite a beautiful plant. The poppy is a tall, thin plant of about 90-150 centimeters with little surrounding its stem. When in bloom, its four sprouting leaves can be a variety of colors— white, pink, blue, crimson, or any combination of these. These leaves surround the plant s inner pod. The pod has three layers, including an outer wall and inner compartments where its seeds are produced. Typically about the size of a golf ball, the pod contains the plant s two major products the seeds (about 1,000 for every plant), which can be cultivated into new plants, and opium. 

I don t suppose many love yellow star thistle except perhaps the bees attracted by its bright saffron-colored flowers or the honey lovers addicted to the bees sweet product. Most find this weed a nuisance and there is no easy way to remove it. It has taken me many years of burning, mowing, hoeing and replanting with perennial grasses, to restore the old pasture. Today it is full of purple needlegrass, blue wildrye, and California poppies, native species that used to blanket the valley before human activity and invasive weeds all but obliterated them. 

Tuberous species of anemones include low-growing Grecian windflower (Anemone hlanda), a 6"-8" plant with deeply divided leaves and daisylike, blue, pink, or white flowers, and showy, 7"-15" poppy anemone (A. coronaria). a more tender plant (Zone 8) with single or semidouble blooms in deep shades of red. blue, violet, and white. Both species bloom in early spring. 

Many naturally occurring dyes change color as the acidity of their surroundings changes. The compound cyanidin Is blue In the bask sap of the cornflower and red In the acidic sap of the poppy. Such dyes can be used as Indicators of the degree of acidity In a medium. 

Many natural dyes found in fruits, vegetables, and flowers act as pH indicators by changing color with changes in acidity (Fig. 15.10). A particularly striking example is cyanidin, which is responsible both for the red color of poppies and the blue color of cornflowers. The sap of the poppy is sufficiently acidic to turn cyanidin red, but the sap of the cornflower is basic and makes the dye blue. (See the image on page 625.) Related natural dyes called anthocyanins contribute to the colors of raspberries, strawberries, and blackberries. 

A class of highly conjugated compounds called anthocyanins is responsible for the red, purple, and blue colors of many flowers (poppies, peonies, cornflowers), fruits (cranberries, rhubarb, strawberries, blueberries), and vegetables (beets, radishes, red cabbage). 

Alkaloidal storage, metabolism, and translocation in the vesicles of P. somniferum have been reported (268, 298). The content of alkaloids in this plant of various ages (no statistical difference was found in the morphine content between the blue- and the white-seeded variety), the accumulation of morphine in several varieties of poppy in different climatic zones (326, 842), and the identification of opium-yielding Papavers have also been studied (843). The contents of morphine in dried capsules of P. 

I believe in art for art s sake. It is an unfashionable belief, and some of my statements must be of the nature of an apology. Sixty years ago I should have faced you with more confidence. A writer or a speaker who chose Art for Art s Sake for his theme sixty years ago could be sure of being in the swim, and could feel so confident of success that he sometimes dressed himself in aesthetic costumes suitable to the occasion - in an embroidered dressing-gown, perhaps, or a blue velvet suit with a Lord Fauntleroy collar or a toga, or a kimono, and carried a poppy or a lily or a long peacock s feather in his medieval hand. 

Cyanidin, 3,5,7,3, 4 -pentahydroxyflavyUum ca-tioK the aglycon of many Anthocyanins (see), m.p. 200°C (d.). Glycosides of C and a few acylated derivatives are found in many plants the oxonium salts arc responsible for the deep red color of many flowers and fruits such as red roses, geraniums, tulips, poppies and zinnias. Chelates with Fe(III) or AI(III) are deep blue in color. When bound to a polysaccharide carrier, they form chromosaccharides such as proto-cyanin, the blue pigment of cornflowers. 

Quinine (80) is a common quinoline derivative and an important antimalarial isolated from Cinchona bark (see Chapter 1 and compound number 1 in Section 1.1). Another antimalarial compound is Primaquine (81). Camptothecin (82) is an important anticancer drug that contains the quinoline unit. In all cases, the quinoline unit is highlighted in blue in the illustration. A typical isoquinoline derivative is papaverine (83), which is related to morphine and also isolated from the opium poppy. Papaverine relaxes smooth muscle tissue in blood vessels. Once again, the isoquinoline unit is highlighted. 

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