THE POPPY FAMILY 7 



4* the Fruit, which represents an aggregate of many fleshy 

 carpels, densely packed together and each containing one seed. 

 The outer side of each carpel becomes hard in the fruit and 

 forms one of the parts of the hard protective crust. The seed 

 has a hard testa which projects into the interior, the greater part 

 of which is filled with endosperm, a nourishing tissue for the 

 embryo required at the time of its germination. 



A wild growing type of this family is Uvaria narum {Kan. 

 Unamini; Mai. Narampanal; Tu. Pandel), a straggling climber 

 with branches dividing from the zigzag-like young shoots at 

 angles of nearly 180°, and thus forming hooks by means of which 

 the climber fastens itself to its support. The numerous carpels 

 are stalked and free and become scarlet when ripe. 



3, The Poppy Family 



(Papaveraceae). 



Herbs with milky juice. Flowers radial. Sepals two, petals four, 

 stamens many, inserted on the receptacle. Ovary superior, syncarp- 

 ous. Seeds endospermous. 



The Opium Poppy {Fapover somniferwn) . 



{Kan. Kasakase. Mai. Kagakaca. Tam. Grasagasa. Tel. Gasagasa. San. Khaskhasa.) 



The Opium Poppy is widely cultivated in India, because it 

 yields '^ opium", which is an important article of commerce. 

 Opium is a valuable drug which can soothe the greatest pain 

 and cause sleep. It is obtained by scratching the unripe capsules 

 (fruit) with a small knife. The milky juice which comes out 

 is allowed to dry and is then scraped off the capsule. In China 

 this substance is smoked in a pipe for intoxicating purposes. 

 The opium smoker soon sinks into a half-conscious state in which 

 pleasant dreams come to him. On waking up again he is, how- 

 ever, very dull, suffers from headache and so on; and in order 

 to get rid of the discomfort he again indulges in a smoke. To 

 take effect, after a time, the dose must be increased, and this 



