WEEDS OF MAINE. 241 



7. Common Poppy — Papaver snmniferum. A'wf annual. iS^^m smooth, covered with a 

 greenish white mealiness. Leaves clasping the stem, the wavy margin incised and 

 toothed. Flowers large, generally purple or rose, sometimes white, with a black or deep 

 purple mark at the bottom of. each petal. Pod or capsule roundish, flattened below and 

 surmounted by a crown-like expansion — the persistent stigma — which is marked by 

 numerous diverging rays. 



This annual plant is often seen in g-ardens and in waste places 

 about dwelling's. It is an introduced species from Europe, and has 

 become partly naturalized in many places. The plant was originally 

 a native of the warmer parts of Asia. It produces the opium of 

 commerce. The capsules possess anodyne properties, and when 

 boiled in water are employed as fomentations to ulcerated surfaces. 

 Its extirpation is most readily effected by hand weeding. 



8. Common Celandine — Chelidonium majus. Root spindle-shaped, perennial. Stem one 

 to two feet high, branched from near the base, brittle, somewhat hairy. Leaves three to 

 five inches long, with five to seven segments. Flowers small, yellow. Pods about an inch 

 long, swelled out in obtuse ridges. 



This plant is a native of all Europe, with the exception of Lap- 

 land. It is probably an introduced plant with us, and it is said to 

 have become quite an abundant weed in some places, growing 

 about dwellings and in waste grounds. The saffron colored juice, 

 which exudes from the fresh stem when broken, is very sour and 

 bitter, and was formerly much used as an application to warts, 

 ringworms, and the like. As the Celandine is a perennial, it must 

 be eradicated root and branch. 



Order 3. FUMITORIES — Fumakiace^. An unimportant order, 

 numbering about fifteen genera. A few species are possessed of 

 much beauty, and are highly valued as garden plants. The mem- 

 bers of this family are chiefly remarkable for their singularly 

 irregular flowers. 



9. Fumitory — Fumaria officinalis. Annual. Stem herbaceous, at first erect, finally 

 becoming much branched and spreading. Leaves finely parted and very delicate. Flowers 

 small, pale red, tipped with deep red or purple, and arranged in dense racemes. 



This little plant is exceedingly annoying in many flower gardens. 

 The seeds are carried from one garden to another on tlie roots of 

 garden plants, and when it first makes its appearance it is much 

 admired, and its growth is encouraged. But in a short time it 

 spreads over all the garden, giving much trouble to its unwitting 

 benefactor, who, too late, had found out the plant's true character. 

 It should be known and carefully pulled up before it has time to 

 blossom and mature its seeds, for by these alone is it propagated. 

 16 



