Common, or field, poppy (Papaver rhoeas) in a wheat field. The four rich red petals are so fragile that they fall after a day and each plant can produce up to 400 flowers in a season. It thrives in disturbed soil and its minute seeds can remain viable until disturbed again. The shelling over much of Northern France resulted in such startling displays of poppies that it was adopted as the symbol of remembrance for the soldiers killed in World War I (the Great War).