Opium Poppy Pods Explained

Dried poppy pods are most commonly referred to as Papaver Somniferum which is world renowned for its beautiful flowers and edible seeds. Dried opium poppy pods have frequently been used for medicinal, culinary and sometimes even recreational purposes throughout the ages. One of the main reasons that are associated with the popularity of these opium poppies is the fact that they are also the primary ingredient of many opiates with sedative properties.

If you have ever bought poppy pods you will notice that they are some of the most beautiful flowers you will ever find in a garden. Many types of these poppies are widely available in various colours which include blue, yellow, orange, pink, red, white, purple, and even blue. You can grow your own unique poppies in your outdoor or indoor garden.

Many of these particular species of poppy flowers are frequently utilized in both medicines and food. The most sought after species being that of the opium poppy pod. Dried opium poppy pods contain opium which is a source of many sedative by-products. But, contrary to the popular notion, not every dried poppy pod contains opium.

The opium poppy plant is a colourful flower, which begins its growth process as a pod from which petals sprout. Papaver Somniferum is actually the Latin word for opium poppy and the literal definition is "the sleep-bringing poppy, white form".

This species of Papaver Somniferum contains the majority of opiates, such as morphine and codeine. Take note that it is illegal in majority of countries in the world to deliberately extract the contents of specific types of poppies to get raw morphine.

Dried poppy pods are not always purchased for the sole purpose for committing an illegal act. Florists and hobbyists love using them for ornamental or craft making sessions. After the flower petals fall off the plant the remaining pod can be cut off. It is best that one hangs them up to let them dry. Once the poppy pods are dry, they can be used in flower arrangements or for other decorative purposes.

Since dried opium poppy seeds are edible, and legal to possess and consume, they are oftentimes used in cooking recipes such as breads and desserts throughout the world. You can easily find poppy seeds available at most of your local grocery retailers on the shelves alongside other cooking ingredients. Even though the store brand poppy seeds contain tiny levels of residual opiates one could possibly test positive for drugs if they were consumed within the last 24 hours.

It is of utmost important that one realizes that growing opium poppy pods is considered illegal in most countries even it if the purpose was just to obtain seeds for use in cooking. Since a single poppy pod plant can produce morphine, heroin or opium, getting caught growing these particular species of poppies can result in heavy fines or worse incarceration. Be warned that the risk of growing opium poppy pods is very high and nobody wants to go to prison. Attempting to grow poppy plants is one thing but be aware that even if you are found to be in possession of dried opium poppy pods you could face similar court fines or prison time as if you were to actually grow them yourself.

Many casual poppy plant growers tend to think that growing a small portion in their private garden for flowers or seeds means they are not doing anything illegal. However, it is absolutely incorrect to assume that rules and regulations, as well as the consequences, don't pertain to you since they are the same regardless of the number of plants that you may grow. Therefore, it is highly recommended, that is need dried poppy pods, to either buy poppy seeds from a reputable supplier or purchase dried opium pods from verified sellers.If you are searching for more of the colourful variety of dried Papaver Somniferum pods for decorative purpose, it is much better to buy them from a flower store or online stores authorized to do so. There is always a legal risk of growing poppies. In conclusion, opium poppies for legal commercial pharmaceutical use and culinary purposes are grown by suppliers who acquire special government licenses around the world.

Native Flowers of Austria

Austria is located in Central Europe and has a temperate and fairly cool climate. Half the country is located in the Alps and so, the country has an alpine weather. The winters can be quite chilly while the summers can be quite hot. The topographical and climatic conditions of country account for various varieties grown in the country. Some of the native flowers of Austria, which add to the beauty of this country, are mentioned below.

Edelweiss

Edelweiss is one of the popular mountain flowers of Europe as well as the national flower of Austria. The flower is a member of the sunflower family. The flower has the shape of a star with tiny white hairs, which give it a woolly appearance. The hairs protect the flower from the cold. It has a yellow center with five to six tiny flower heads. The flower is used to depict daring and courage due to its ability to grow in the cold mountain climate. Moreover, it is quite difficult and dangerous to get the flower from the mountainous areas where it is grown due to which, it is said to be the symbol of bravery. Besides this, it has significance in the military operations in the Alps. It was the symbol of the alpine division of the Austrian-Hungarian Army in 1907. The flower is also used in folk medicine and is pictured on the euro coins of the country. Moreover, it is commonly grown in gardens throughout the country.

Gentian

This flower is native to the Alps and usually grows in the wild. The flower grows in clusters and is commonly blue, yellow, white and purple. One of the species, which can be found on the observe side of the € 0.01 euro coin, is blue and trumpet-like in shape.

Arnica

The arnica is a perennial flower and is also known as leopard's bane. The flower is yellow-orange in color and blooms during the spring season. This flower is another member of the sunflower family. The flower is commonly used in traditional medicine throughout the country as a remedy for bruises and sprains.

Heather

The flower grows in clusters in a shrubby plant. The flower is purple in color and its blooming period stretches from early spring to late summer. Usually the flower can be found grown along moors and bogs.

These are some of the native flowers of Austria. Apart from them, alpine carnation, alpine rose and hyacinth are also native to the country. Some other flowers like roses are also grown in the country.

Native Flowers of Russia

Russia is a huge country in terms of area. Due to its large size, the country has continental weather. It also has a diverse landscape and so, various types of flowers can thrive in the country. Some of the flowers grown in the country are not native to Russia. For example, Chamomile, which is Russia's national flower, is not native to the country. Even sunflower, which is grown throughout the country, is not native to Russia. However, there are various native flowers of Russia that are very popular worldwide. Most of the time, people do not even realize that these flowers come from a different part of the world. Some of the native flowers of Russia are mentioned below.

Maltese Cross

Maltese cross or lychnis chalcedonica, has been grown in the country for three hundred years. It is quite popular outside Russia and was bought to Europe during the time of the Crusades. The flower is bright orange or red in color and grows in clusters. It looks like a cross due to which, it has been given the name 'Maltese cross'. It is usually cultivated as an ornamental flower and is native to central and eastern European Russia.

Baby's Breath

Baby's Breath or gypsophila paniculata, is commonly used as a filler in floral arrangements. It can be found in bouquets, corsages and boutonnieres. The flower represents everlasting love, happiness and purity of the heart. It can be found among wedding flowers and is commonly used in brides' bouquets. Besides this, it is given on the birth of a new baby and to expectant mothers. The flower is also used in crafts as it can be dried easily. The flower is quite small and is commonly white or pink in color.

Larkspur

Blue butterfly larkspur got its name due to its bright blue color. It is also known as Chinese larkspur or Siberian larkspur as it grows in China and Siberia. It is commonly used in summer bouquets.

Fireweed

Some sources claim that this is the national flower of Russia. It is usually found in the northern hemisphere and thrives in areas burned by fire. The flower has four petals, which can be magenta or pink in color.

The above are a few of the native flowers of Russia. In addition to them, many other local and imported varieties are grown in the country. The local flowers are cheaper but sometimes, their quality is not very good. Still, the flowers of Russia are quite attractive and popular worldwide as mentioned above.

All About Lightning

As we enter mid-spring and the weather finally begins to warm up a bit, we expect to see quite a few thunderstorms in Oregon. Inspiring awe in some while scaring the pants off others (but not ME, I'm definitely not scared of lightning. No sir,) it is no surprise that cultures all over the world associate lightning with deity. But what exactly is it?

During an electrical storm, the upper portion of the storm clouds has a positive charge and the lower portion has a negative charge. It is not quite clear how the clouds attain these charges in the first place, but one theory is that different forms of liquid (vapor, water and ice droplets) collide as they rise and fall within a cloud. In the collision, electrons are knocked off of the rising moisture and they gather at the bottom of the cloud, creating the negative charge. It is thought that rising moisture then carries a positive charge to the top of the cloud. The charge separation within the cloud is what creates an electric field, the strength of which is related to the amount of charge buildup in the cloud.

When the electric charge inside the cloud becomes very strong, the air becomes ionized (the positive ions and electrons are spaced further apart than before and the electrons can move more freely.) The strong ionization causes the air to begin to break down, allowing for currents to flow in an attempt to neutralize the charge. These currents are called leaders, and they provide a path through the cloud for the lightning to follow. The initial (or stepped) leader does not move smoothly, but jumps in a jagged fashion. Many leaders form at the same time, but the first one to make contact with the ground is the one that gets the lightning.

The entire process is a bit more complicated, but there you have the basics of how lightning is formed. Lightning is much too powerful for even the best of surge protectors to protect against, and it can reach temperatures of 54,000 °F. (For comparison- the surface of the sun is only about 9,900 °F.) An average bolt of lightning carries about 30,000 amps. A single ampere of current is all it takes to kill a human!

Lightning is a complex phenomenon with many variations and exceptions. Sometimes it shows up in the most unexpected of places.

For example, do you know:

Why We See Lightning During Volcanic Eruptions?

If you saw photos of the eruption of Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull that erupted in 2010, you may have seen lightning within the plumes of smoke and thought that they surely must be photoshopped. Not so!

There is still research being conducted into the definitive cause behind lightning within the smoke plumes of volcanoes, but the general consensus involves, of all things, dust. The idea is that dust/smoke/ash particles carry small charges that become amplified during the chaos of rushing out of a volcano. With every collision of one particle with another, the charges become more and more polarized until lightning is inevitable because the polarization becomes too great for the air to resist the flow of electricity. The lightning neutralizes the charge separation, essentially relieving the tension of polarization.

There is another lesser known type of volcanic lightning, however, which occurs right at the mouth of the volcano and is much less orderly (not the ordinary branching, bolting lightning we're used to seeing), manifesting as chaotic sparks probably as the result of a heavy charge within the volcano itself.

How Many Different Kinds of Lightning There Are?

The answer to this question depends on who you ask, and what you consider a "kind" of lightning. The typical classifications are as follows:

Cloud-to-cloud (intercloud, which is lightning moving between separate clouds, and intracloud, which is lightning moving within the same cloud).

Cloud-to-ground (Less common but more dangerous than cloud to cloud. If anything on the earth is struck by lightning, it was cloud-to-ground.) Cloud-to-ground lightning is more complex than a simple bolt shooting straight from a cloud, however, and includes charges moving up and down from both the cloud and the ground.

Cloud-to-sky (Also known as sprites, cloud-to-sky lightning occurs in the upper atmosphere. They lack the hot temperatures of other types of lightning, and usually have a reddish-orange hue.)

Lightning is also sometimes further specified as:

Ribbon lightning (Successive strokes of lightning are displaced by wind, resulting in a broadened appearance, almost like a double-exposed photo).

Bead lightning (The decay of the luminosity of the bolt of lightning, resulting in a beaded appearance. This happens very quickly and is difficult to capture.)

St. Elmo's Fire This is not actually lightning, but often closely associated with it and seen during electrical storms. St. Elmo's Fire (not to be confused with ball lightning as it often is) is the result of a gap in electrical charge. It's made of plasma (ionized air that emits a glow) and, while lightning is the movement of electricity from a charged point, St. Elmo's Fire is a coronal discharge that sparks up in the place where there is a drastic difference in charge between the air and an object like the mast of a ship or the steeple of a church. St. Elmo's Fire is the same thing that happens in a fluorescent tube- essentially a continuous spark, glowing blue because of the particular combination of air molecules. It may also take on a purple hue.

St. Elmo's Fire is very difficult to find accurate images or videos of. Many videos exist that claim to be St. Elmo's Fire but are actually just static discharge (a frequent occurrence around airplanes in the midst of storms). An easy way to tell the difference is that St. Elmo's Fire does not look like lightning- instead it emits a steady glow.

Ball lightning- The most mysterious type of "lightning", there is some dispute among scientists as to whether ball lightning actually exists. Arc faults along power lines (which appear as large, impossibly bright balls of light) and photographic anomalies are both to blame for the confusion.

How to Stay Safe During a Thunderstorm?

Lightning regularly strikes water, so never go swimming or boating during a storm. If you are in the water when a storm begins, get out of the water as fast as you can.
Lightning strikes will follow anything that conducts electricity, so stay off your landline phone during a storm and turn off/unplug your computers. If lightning strikes your house, even the most powerful of surge protectors will have a hard time protecting your equipment. (Radio waves do not conduct electricity, so as long as your cell phone is not plugged in to an outlet and you are not standing outside during the storm with the metal device held to your face, it is safe to use it. They do not inexplicably "attract" lightning more than any other object with metal in it).
Lightning does in fact strike twice (the Empire State building is struck 20-25 times a year), so don't rely on old adages for your safety information.
If you are caught in a thunderstorm and cannot get inside to safety, crouch low to the ground but do not lay flat. Try to keep as much of your body from touching the ground as possible, because you are in more danger of being injured by currents traveling across the ground after a lightning strike than of being stricken directly by a bolt.
A flash-to-bang (seeing lightning to hearing thunder) ratio of 5 seconds equals one mile of distance from the lightning. Ten seconds equals 2 miles, etc.
Lightning in Mythology

One has only to view an electrical storm themselves to understand why so many people have associated lightning and thunder with deity. A few popular myths and legends about lightning:

Zeus (Jupiter to the Romans) is the planetary god of thunder, and his primary weapon is the thunderbolt (given to him by the Cyclops).
The Thunderbird common to North American indigenous cultures is said to create thunder by the beating of its wings, and lightning is made by glowing snakes that it carries or directly from its eyes.
Thor is the Norse hammer-wielding god of thunder.
There is so much more to learn about lightning in all of its various incarnations. It is a stark reminder of the incredible powerful forces of nature that surround us on all sides. Despite how much we learn about it on a scientific level, we may always be inclined to associate this incredible force with deity.

Land Degradation and Conservation

Land degradation is a worldwide problem. The denuding action of weathering, running water, air, etc. on the upper layer of the earth, is called land erosion.

Land is an important resource provides food, clothing, minerals, other raw materials, and shelter for human beings. Substantial reduction in the productivity of the land is the main outcome of land degradation. Soil, which is a part of land, is the gift of nature, which is available in limited quantity. Soil formation is a slow process. It takes hundreds of years to form. Therefore, it is necessary to put the available land to various uses with the most careful and planned way.

India is a vast country having a 3.28 million square kilometer area, with 22.5% under the forest, 46 % under the net sown area, 8% fallow land, and rest under the other uses. Land under the forest has increased from 14 % in 1950-51 to 22% in 1998-99. The forest-covered area is below the 33% of the total area, which is essential for balanced development. High growth of cities has depleted the forest cover. Mountainous slopes and semi desert areas are the most vulnerable by the running water and wind. In the plain, grinding of limestone for cement industry, release heavy amount of dust in the atmosphere. This later settles down in the surrounding areas, affects' water, and crop cultivation.

Human being has been creating their own world of living by constructing roads, railway, towns, industry, etc. Overgrazing by livestock, deforestation, poor farming practices, inappropriate irrigation, over drafting, Urban sprawl, land pollution, industrial waste, mining and quarrying of sandstone, ore and minerals, etc. are the major causes of land degradation.

We can conserve our land resources by adopting necessary measures:

1. All water resources, especially fresh water, should be used judiciously.
2. By educating and informing people and empowering local communities about its sustainable use for to fulfill needs.
3. Deforested areas should be replaced by tree plantations. Cutting of timber should be restricted and women should be involved in the movements for conservation of forests.
4. Inadequate land for pasturing, resort to animal grazing in area reserved for forest. This practice should be stopped immediately.
5. All the fallow land and wasteland must be under such tree, which can fulfill primary requirement of surrounding regions.
6. In the hilly or mountainous areas, fields must be ploughed along the natural contour of the hills.
7. A terraced farming method shall be adopting in the Rice growing regions along the slop.
8. At the margin of desert, shelter belts shall have planted to check the speed of winds.
9. Stabilization of sand dunes by planting grasses and thorny bushes can help land conservation.
10. Tribal people need to be educated to stop shifting agriculture.
11. Soil salination in irrigated land should be checked to reclaim the land.
12. Proper discharge, disposal of industrial and domestic, effluents and waste.
13. Desert and semi desert areas should be under the cover of grasses, and availability of water should be increased.
14. Land should be shielding from the overuse for chemical pesticide, insecticide, etc.
15. Chemical fertilizer in agriculture should be replaced with organic manure.

Land degradation is the result of unscientific development. Although land use in India is balanced one, but high growth of population may create imbalance. Exploration of land resources for prosperity may be a result of poverty and invitations to the natural calamity. Therefore, we need environment-friendly development for our food, shelter, and above all for the sake of human being.

Discover Nature and Wildlife Within The Natural World

You can find a wide range of God's creatures on mother earth, anything from beetles and fungi, reptiles and wild birds to hedgehogs, moles and domestic dogs and cats. Each of these and many more, play their part in the creation and maintenance of our world. Why not find out about our natural world in a varied range of nature books. Naturally, everybody could do their bit in order that the natural world continues to sustain life, not just the life of mankind but the miles and miles of plant life and forests, the birds and wildlife in the midst of it and not forgetting the polar ice caps, which is also home to a variety of animals, such as polar bears and penguins.

Our journey through the natural world category gets underway with the beetle. A beetle is an insect that has a hard outer covering and with roughly 4,000 different species in Britain alone could make them the commonest animal worldwide. They feed on numerous types of food that include plants, fungi and leaf litter. Beetles come in quite a lot of different colours that gives camouflage from predators. The beetle family comprises of ladybirds, stag beetles, devils coach horses, whirligig beetles, woodworm (or furniture beetles), dung beetles, scarab beetles, weevils, water beetles and longhorn beetles.

Human beings are exposed to nature everywhere we go and we're straightaway surrounded by it whenever we step foot outside, in our gardens, which gets visited by a variety of insects and birds every day, perhaps even nightingales. The nightingale feeds mainly on insects as they are insectivores and they also love to sing at night as well as during the day. Most other birds normally only sing when it is light.

They are secretive birds that live in open broad-leaved woodlands, heaths, coppices and thick undergrowth. Like the beetles above their drab brown colour acts as good camouflage which makes them difficult to see, however they can always be heard because of their distinctive song.

With its small, brown, spiky body the hedgehog is one of the most familiar wild mammals. They can be spotted in parks and gardens under bushes and hedges in the daytime. Although once dusk arrives they love to go off in search of insect rich lawns and flower beds in order to feed. Hedgehogs are known as the gardener's best friend as they love to munch on big, crunchy beetles, earthworms and slugs.

The badger is easily recognisable especially with its black and white striped face and is our biggest land predator. The badger family includes stoats, weasels and otters. The badger is known to be a nocturnal animal which lives in a burrow known as a sett. They will feed on small mammals, ground-nesting birds eggs, earthworms, fruit and roots and bulbs, which they dig up with their strong front paws.

Our journey through the natural world category concludes with the Amazon rainforest which is described as the 'lungs of the earth' as it is able to continuously recycle carbon dioxide into oxygen producing around 20% of the world's supply. The rainforest covers over a billion acres of land and if it were classed as a country it would be about the ninth largest in the natural world.

It is from the rainforest that at least 80% of the developed world's diet originated, giving us fruit, vegetables, spices, sugar cane, coffee and nuts such as Brazil and cashews. The rainforests not only provide some of the foods we eat but many of the plants there have been proven to be of great medicinal value and many of which have been found to be active against cancer cells.

The natural world is truly an amazing and inspiring place in which we can discover the many plants, animals and fungi that live all around us and the rocks, fossils and minerals inside the planet we walk on.

Tress And Their Diseases

With the start of the New Year we are starting a new series of blogs on tree knowledge. This will mainly feature on causes of ill health in trees and will help you identify when further action is required.

Giant polypore, botanical name Meripilus giganteus, is a large bracket fungus, which usually affects beech trees. Its impressive fruiting bodies appear around the base of the tree as this fungus attacks the roots. It is parasitic, meaning it attacks live trees, and can cause trees to collapse in the worst instance.

Giant polypore causes what is known as white-rot. This means it degrades and feeds on both lignin (the substance which makes plants woody) and cellulose (cell walls). Its fruiting bodies (fungal brackets) only survive for a year, and may not form every year. The fruiting body is just one part of the fungus. If the fruiting body is not visible, this does not mean the infection is not present, just as removing the bracket will not stop infection.

Giant polypore usually affects the underside of tree roots. This makes the extent of infection very difficult to ascertain. The severity of infection does not always have a visual affect on the crown of the tree either. For these reasons, it is often unwise to keep an affected tree if it is in falling distance of public or property.

I will now focus on Kretzschmaria deusta, (previously known as Ustilina deusta). This is a particularly dangerous type of decay fungus. It is relatively common, reproducing with spores carried in the wind and can infect most species of tree.

Kretzschmaria deusta is dangerous for two main reasons. Firstly it attacks live trees. It decays the base of the tree, attacking the heartwood. This can often make the extent of decay within the tree difficult or impossible to identify. It can potentially cause stem failure without warning, particularly if the fruiting body has not been identified.

The second reason Kretzschmaria deusta is particular dangerous is because the fruiting body is difficult to spot. It is not an obvious fungal bracket. It instead grows first a white layer at the base of the tree when juvenile, then transforming into a black layer when mature. It can often look like a thin tar covering at the base of the tree. As the fruiting body only grows at the base of the tree, it can often be hidden by long grass, weeds or other plants within a dense understorey. This is one reason you may see experienced tree consultants kicking undergrowth away from the base of trees when carrying out an inspection.

As Kretzschmaria deusta can cause tree failure without warning, infected trees are often condemned as soon as the fungus has been identified, particularly if the tree is in a high risk location such as at a roadside or adjacent to a building. There is no cure for the infection and it can continue living on dead tree stumps after the rest of the tree has been removed. This makes controlling the disease difficult and we must instead be vigilant to spot infection before serious harm is caused.