Genus 2. 



POPPY FAMILY. 



139 



I. Argemone mexicana L. Alexican 

 Prickl}- or Thorn Poppy. Fig. 1978. 



Argcmoitc mexicana L. Sp. PI. 508. 1753. 



Stem stout, I-2 high, simple or spar- 

 ingly branched, spiny or sometimes nearly 

 unarmed. Leaves sessile, clasping by a 

 narrowed base, 4-10' long, 2'-^' wide, glau- 

 cous, white-spotted, runcinate-pinnatifid, 

 spiny-toothed and more or less spiny on the 

 veins ; flowers yellow or cream-colored, ses- 

 sile or subsessile, i'-2' broad; sepals acumi- 

 nate, bristly-pointed; stamens 4"-5" long; 

 filaments slender, much longer than their 

 anthers; stigma sessile or nearly so; cap- 

 sule l' long or more. 



In waste places, Massachusetts to New Jer- 

 sey, Pennsylvania, Florida and Texas. Also in 

 ballast about the northern seaports. Adventive 

 from tropical America. A common weed in the 

 American tropics, and introduced into the Old 

 World. The seed yields a valuable painter's 

 oil. June-Sept. Bird-in-the-bush. Devil's-fig. 

 Yellow, Flowering or Jamaica thistle. 



2. Argemone alba Lestib. White Prickly 

 Poppy. Fig. 1979. 



Argemone alba Lestib. Bot. Belg. Ed. 2:3; Part 2, 

 13^. 1799. 



A, alhiflora Hornem. Hort. Havn. 469. 1815. 



Commonly stouter and taller than the pre- 

 ceding species. Leaves pinnatifid or pinnately 

 lobed, glaucous or green, not blotched, but 

 sometimes whitish along the veins; flowers 

 w-hite, usually much larger, 3'-4' broad, dis- 

 tinctly peduncled ; petals rounded ; spines of 

 the sepal-tips stouter; capsules l'-\\' long. 



Georgia and Florida to Missouri and Texas. 

 Spontaneous after cultivation in northern gardens. 

 May-Aug. 



3. Argemone intermedia Sweet. Leafy White 

 Prickl) Poppy. Fig. 1980. 



Argemone intermedia Sweet, Hort. Brit. Ed. 2, 585. 1830. 

 Stem stout, prickly, glabrous and glaucous, often 2 

 high or more. Leaves lobed or pinnatifid, very prickly, 

 usually whitish-blotched ; flowers large, white, sessile 

 or nearly so, 3'--[' wide ; petals rounded ; spines of the 

 sepal-tips spreading; capsule oblong, prickly, about i' 

 long. 



Prairies and plains, Illihois to South Dakota, Wyoming. 

 Nebraska, Texas and Mexico. Has been confused with the 

 preceding species, and with A. platyceras Link & Otto. 

 May-Aug. 



Argemone hispida .'\. Cray, ranging from Wyoming to 

 Utah and New Mexico, differs in the stem and branches 

 being hispid-pubescent. It has been recorded from Kansas, 

 perhaps erroneously. 



