Papaver aculeatum, the orange poppy, bristle poppy or in Afrikaans the doringpapawer (thorn poppy), is a tufted, prickly annual that grows to 1 m. The leaves are deeply lobed and toothed. They have stiff yellow prickles along their surfaces.

The flowers grow on long, erect stalks. Flowers have four broadly obovate petals forming a shallow bowl, about 5 cm in diameter. Corolla colour is orange or salmon pink.  A cluster of small stamens encircle the large ovary and stigma. Flowering happens from late spring to mid-autumn.

The distribution is large in the inland central and eastern South Africa, from the Eastern Cape to Mpumalanga and Limpopo. The habitat is lower slopes and disturbed ground in sandy soil and summer rainfall. This plant is said to be the only poppy originating from the southern hemisphere, indigenous in South Africa, Swaziland and Lesotho. The plant is also found in Australia, but it is unknown whether it has been introduced there (Manning, 2009; iSpot; Eliovson, 1984; www.plantgenesis.co.uk).