Farmer grows restricted opium poppies by mistake: 'Absolutely no idea'

Opium derived from poppies has many medicinal uses. It has been known since ancient times to help induce sleep and relieve pain. Morphine, heroin, codeine and oxycodone are some of its derivatives.

But it is illegal to grow those plants without a license.

At Dixon's property, officials ripped out 50 poppy plants from

"I was growing them purely for weddings," Dixon told ABC News. "I had absolutely no idea."

She said she was stumped because she had bought seeds to grow them from a registered supplier.

But Dixon took responsibility for not spotting the flowers sooner, The Guardian reported.

After the incident, flower growers in Tasmania have been asked to stay extra careful.

“The government factsheets are very clear on what you cannot grow," Keith Rice, the chief executive of Poppy Growers Tasmania, told The Guardian. "It’s a very well-known crop in Tasmania and does not look very alike to the legal kind."