NAT. ORDER. 



Papaveracece. 



j\RGEMONE MEXICANA. MEXICAN ARGEMONE. 



Class XIII. PoLYANDRIA. OrcJcT I. MONOGYNIA. 



Gen. Cliar. Sepals two or three, concave, mucronate. Petals four 

 to six. Stamens indefinite. Style scarcely any. Stigmas four 

 to six, opening. Seeds spherical, scrobiculate. 



^)e. Char. Leaves profoundly rcpand-sinuated, spiny, blotclied 

 with white. Flowers solitary. Calyx smooth. Capsules prickly, 

 three or four valved. Petals four to six. Stig^nas four to five. 



This is an annual plant, rising in height to two or three feet, with 

 steins armed thickly with prickles ; the leaves are sinuate or jagged, 

 soft, shining, stem-clasping, the points of the jags ending in sharp, 

 yellow spines ; on the upper side there are milky veins, as in our 

 Lady's Thistle ; on the under, small prickles along the mid-rib and 

 veins ; thejlowers are solitary at the ends of the stem and branches ; 

 the corolla is yellow, with from four to six petals ; the calyx consists 

 of from two to six prickly leaves ; the stigma is capitate, small, and 

 with five notches ; capsule superior, having five or six ribs from top 

 to bottom, and between the ribs armed with bristle-shaped spines ; 

 at the top is the flatted stigma ; the seeds are very numerous, round, 

 black, rough, with a compressed scar on the side ; the valves of the 

 capsidc vary in number, as well as the petals, from four to six. This 

 plant is a native of Mexico, and flowers in July and August. This 

 plant is also found in Canada, and through all the States to Loui- 

 siana, all over Florida, West Indies, Brazils, Africa, St. Helena, East 



Vol. iv.— 111. 



