Yellow horned-poppy Glucium flavum

This biennial to perennial plant is quite distinctive with its rosettes of grey-green, deeply-lobed leaves and large bright yellow flowers. The four-petalled flowers are 6-9 cm in size and are borne on stems that reach to 90cm. The leaves are waxy and have a hairy surface like many other coastal species that need to retain fresh water in the salty, maritime climate. The very thin seedpods are 15-30cm in length and sickle shaped giving the appearance of horns, hence the common name for this plant. The pods develop after the flower has died and then split lengthways to release their seed. The plant will not flower until its second year and will live for up to 5 years. Over winter most rosettes and the stalks die away and the plant survives as just a single rosette of leaves.