262 



PAPAVERACE^. 



[part ii. 



The Opium Poppy (Papaver somniferum) 

 differs from the Corn Poppy in several respects. 

 First, the whole plant is glabrous, that is, devoid 

 of either hairs or bristles ; the capsule also is 

 much larger and more fleshy in an unripe state, 

 and the crown-like lid is smoother, and curved 

 over like a plume of feathers, (see a in Jir/, 112.) 



Fig. 112. — The flower, bud, lkaves, and capsulk of the Opium 

 Poppy, much smaller than the natural size. 



The fleshiness of the unripe seed-vessel of the 

 Poppy puzzled me extremely at first, as I knew 

 that the ripe capsule of this Poppy is always 

 dry and leathery ; but it was soon explained to 

 me, that this fleshy substance is, in fact, an 

 elongation of the receptacle or disk, which rises 

 up round the carpels, and envelops them, in 

 the same way as the disk of the Water-lily 

 grows round the pistil and carpels of that plant, 



