What could be more commonplace than a ‘pretty poppy’?
Simple, fragile, fleeting - bright like a drop of blood – the poppy’s medical use in phytotherapy has been well-known for centuries.

The ‘pretty little poppy’ is one of the rare words in the French language which is not of Greco-Latin, Celtic or barbarian origin. Its name is centuries-old and comes from the exclamation of a child who, discovering this flower, which was red like the crest of a cockerel, cried out (in French): "co-que-ri-co".

Once cut, the poppy quickly loses its petals and only the capsule remains. This capsule is full of countless, tiny black seeds which carry the future, splendid red flowers.

It was through observing these seeds pour out of the hat of a poppy capsule, which he had turned upside-down, that a German scientist invented the modern saltcellar in the middle of the 19th century.

True or false?
We haven’t been able to confirm this delightful story.
The choice is yours...