430 



PAPAVERACE^. 



[Hypogynous Exogens. 



Order CLVI. PAPAVERACE^.— Poppyworts. 



Papaveracea?, Juss. Gen. 236. (1789) in part; DC. Syst. 2. 67. (1818); Prodr. 1. 117. (1824); Bernhardi 

 in Linmea. 8. 401. (1833) ; Endl. Gen. clxxx. ; Meismr, p. 7 ; Wight Illustr. 1 . 27. 



Diagnosis. — JRanal Exogens, with dimerous or trimerousflorvers, consolidated 

 deciduous calyx, and iisually parietal placentce. 



Herbaceous plants or slunibs, often \nth a milky juice. Leaves alternate, 

 di\4ded, without stipules. Peduncles long, 1 -flowered; flowers never blue, 

 (or 3), deciduous. Petals hypogynous, either 

 4 (or 6), or some multiple of that nmnber, 

 usually ci'umpled before expansion, occa- 

 sionally 0. Stamens hj'pogjTious, 00 ; anthers 

 2-celled, innate. Ovary 1 -celled, with pa- 

 rietal placentae ; which in Romneya adhere 

 in the axis ; style short, or none ; oatiIcs 00, 

 anatropal. Fruit 1 -celled, either pod-shaped, 

 with parietal or sutural placentae, or capsu- 

 lar, with several placentae. Seeds numerous ; 

 albtmien between fleshy and oily ; embryo 

 minute, straight, at the base of the albumen, 

 with plano-convex cotyledons. 



The common Redweed of the corn fields 

 offers a good representation of the general 

 character of the plants of this Order, whose 

 appearance is varied prmcipally by the 

 flowers bemg white or yellow, and occa- 

 sionally by their bemg collected into dense 

 panicles, when they are greatly reduced in 

 size, and even in the number of their parts, 

 Bocconia ha\Tng no petals. In this state 

 they approach the Crowfoots through Tha- 

 lictinim. In general also their carpels are 

 completely consolidated, but in the curious 

 genus Platystemon, they are as distinct as in 

 a Crowfoot, and in fact that genus would be 

 referable to Ranunculaceae if it were not for 

 its 2 sepals, no such number being knowTi in 

 that Order. 



The siHquose-fniited genera, such as 

 Glaucivun and Eschscholtzia, have been sup- 

 posed to indicate the near affinity of this 

 Order to Crucifers ; but the totally different 

 structure of their seeds is such as to neu- 

 tralise what little affinity may be indicated 

 by the form of the fruit. Through Papaver 

 the Order approaches Water Lilies. To 

 Rock-roses an unexpected relationship has 

 been estabhshed by the discovery of Dendro- 

 mecon. The greatest affinity is, however, 

 vAih. Crowfoots, from which it is sometimes 

 extremely difficvdt to know this Order, with- 

 out ascertaining that the juice is mUky and 

 narcotic. Platystemon is the connecting 

 link between the two Orders. Bernhardi 

 indeed denies that true Poppyworts are 

 imiversaUy lactescent plants, and he quotes 

 Hunnemannia, Eschscholtzia, and Glaucimn, 

 as instances to the contrary ; but in reality 



carpels, 



simple or 

 Sepals 2 



Fig. CCCI. 



Fig. CCC. — Romeria refracta. 1. its stamens and pistil; 

 Eschscholtzia californica ; 3, 4, seeds of Papaver orientale. 

 Fig. CCCI.— Flower and fruit of Chelidonium majus. 



2. a cross section of the ovary of 



