THE STOCK AND CABBAGE FAMILY, 85 



advantage of having the pores at the top and not the 

 bottom of the " head," is that the seeds do not fall out 

 close to, and all about, the plant; but as the wind 

 blows and sways it, the seeds are thrown to a distance. 



The whole of the " sub-order," which contains the 

 poppy and its allies, have a thick juice, white, yellow, 

 or red, which is more or less poisonous. The opium 

 poppy is commonly cultivated as a garden plant, the 

 opium of commerce being the dried milky juice obtained 

 by making cuts on the green poppy-heads. The seeds 

 are oily, but do not contain opium. 



A Mexican intruder, Argcmo'ne Mexica'na, has 

 become a great pest on the waste-heaps at Kimberley, 

 and is spreading elsewhere. 



General Description of the Poppy Family. 



Herbs — With milky or coloured poisonous juice. 



Flower — Sepals, 2, deciduous ; ^ petals, 4, crumpled 

 in bud (poppy) ; stamens, 00 ; pistil with 2-oo ^ carpels, 

 with parietal placentas and dissepiments. 



Cruciferae. 



The Stock and the Cabbage Family. 



This order contains some 1200 species of 172 

 genera in 10 tribes. The greater number are in the 

 Mediterranean regions and Asia Minor. 



1 I.e. falling off. « I.e. varying from two to many. 



