There are scientific questions that arise from the simplest of observations. Why do poppies open their petals to the sun? What exactly happens inside that flower when the temperature rises? Ismael Díaz Reina, a graduate recognised in the Biological and Health Sciences category at the EDUCA EDTECH Foundation’s 2026 Academic Excellence Awards, decided to look beyond the obvious question and study something that few researchers had explored in the common poppy: its ability to regulate the temperature of its flowers.
A flower, a laboratory
The common poppy (Papaver rhoeas) is one of the most recognisable species in the Mediterranean landscape. Found in fields, along roadsides and on uncultivated land, its red flower is so familiar that it almost goes unnoticed as a subject of study. However, Ismael saw an opportunity in it: could this seemingly simple flower be actively regulating its temperature to gain ecological benefits?
To answer that question, he designed a series of experiments carried out between March and April 2025 in Seville. Using a split-plot experimental design, he measured the temperature at three different points on the flower — the apex, the base and the stigma disc — and compared it with the outside temperature at different times of the day. In addition, a methacrylate cover was placed over the flowers to further increase their temperature under this ‘treatment’.
What he found
The results are as interesting as they are nuanced. In general, the flowers had internal temperatures higher than those of the surrounding environment, suggesting that P. rhoeas possesses a certain capacity for thermal regulation. However, this behaviour is not uniform: under certain climatic conditions, some flowers recorded temperatures lower than the surrounding environment, whilst in other cases there were no significant differences between the inside and outside of the flower.
What did become clear is that the thermal dynamics of the poppy depend on both the time of day and the ambient weather conditions. The temperature differences between blocks were statistically significant, associated with a gradual rise in temperature throughout the day. However, no significant differences were found between flowers with and without a methacrylate cover, nor between the different floral parts analysed.
Why it matters
These results suggest that the flowers of P. rhoeas exhibit a daily thermal cycle. This finding raises important questions about how plants manage their relationship with pollinators and how the climate may affect their reproductive success.
In the context of climate change, understanding the thermal mechanisms of plants is not merely an exercise in academic curiosity. It is a tool for predicting how Mediterranean ecosystems will respond to increasingly extreme temperatures.
Ismael’s work shows that rigorous science can arise from observing everyday life. And that a poppy, when looked at closely, has a great deal to tell us.
