The translucent, papery-petalled scarlet flowers and the ‘pepper-pot’ seed capsules are distinctive. Common poppies vary greatly in height. Some specimens growing in the cracks of pavements and roads struggle to make 30cm in height, whereas others in fertile field conditions can reach 60-90cm tall. Occasionally white or pink poppies can be found flowering amongst normal blooms. All the green parts of the poppy plant, both leaves and flower stalks, are covered in fine hairs. Flowers only last a single day when fully open, then numerous seeds develop within a distinctive egg-shaped capsule. Individual plants have many flowers and so it is often possible to see flower buds, fully open flowers, and seed capsules all together on a single plant.