264 PAPAVERACEiE. [part ii. 



There are many different kinds of Poppy ; but 

 they all agree in the corolla of their flowers 

 being in four petals, or in some number divisible 

 by four; and in the calyx, which is generally in 

 two sepals, dropping off as soon as the flowers 

 expand. All the species abound in a milky 

 juice, which poisons by stupifying ; and they all 

 agree in the general construction of the capsule, 

 with its fleshy envelop and its stigma-formed 

 lid. The petals are always crumpled in the bud, 

 and they fall very soon, so that the beauty of the 

 flowers is very short-lived. The flower-buds 

 droop ; but when the flowers expand, the stalk 

 becomes erect, and remains so while the capsule 

 containing the seeds is ripening ; a wise pro- 

 vision, common to many plants, to prevent the 

 seeds from failing too soon. The calyx of most 

 of the Poppies is in only two sepals; but in the 

 two showy perennial species, called P. orientale 

 and P. hracteatum^ the calyx is in three sepals. 



Among the other plants belonging to the 

 order Papaveracese, may be mentioned the 

 Horned Poppy {Glaucium luieum), which, 

 instead of an obovate capsule, has a long horn- 

 like pod, divided into two cells, the valves 

 opening from the top to the bottom. The 

 whole plant is glaucous ; and the leaves, which 

 are broad and notched, clasp the stem at their 

 base, like those of the Opium Poppy. The 



