Papaver.] 



%. 



sum, oleosum. Embryo parvus, hilum versus albumine inclusus ; coty- 

 lecloiiibus 1-4, plerumque 2, radicula ab hilo remota centrifuga. 



"We commence with Papaver acea the scries of polypetalous Thai aw (flora with 

 consolidated carpels, parietal pla utation, and anthers not adnate with the filament to 

 that degree that they are in all the previously described families. Its affinities are 

 not doubtful : they have been alluded to under Nymphaacea and Berberidea, but 

 are so much more nearly related to the following Orders, Fumariacea, Orucifera, 

 and Cap-par ide ( p, that they are by some authors included with them into one great 

 alliance, the Phoeades of Endlicher and Meisner. Endlicher unites Fumariacea and 

 Pap eracea into one Order, and Brongniart classes them together as Papave, hiecp. 

 Hypecoum, indeed, amongst Fumariacea, being quite intermediate in structure, is the 

 connecting link between these Orders, and Platystemon, a Papaveraceous genns with 

 free ovaries, is the passage between the two groups of apocarpous and syucarpous 

 families, more especially showing the affinity of Papaveracea with Nymphaacea on 

 the one hand, and with Pa nculacea on the other. With Crucifera this Order is 

 allied not only by the structure of the fruit of many species, but by the quaternary 

 arrangement of the sepals and petals. 



I Papaveracea are almost entirely natives of the northern hemisphere and of extra- 

 ropical regions. They are numerous in Northern India, but attain their maximum 

 .n Western North America. Their properties are narcotic, and their seeds usually 

 yield a bland oil. 



1. PAPAVER, L. 



Sepala 2, rarius 3, concava. Petala 4, raring 6. Stamina indefinita. 

 Ovarium e carpellis 4 v. pluribus, stigmatibus radiantibus coronatum. 

 Capsula placentis parietalibus in cavitatem projectis polysperraa, poris 

 v. valvis brevibus infra stigmata dehiscens. — Herbae succo lacteo, sape 

 hispida, radicibus Jibrosis, foliis plerumque lobatis dentatisque, pedunculis 

 axillaribiis solitariis unijloris nudis. 



About twelve species of Papaver are known, of which all but P. nudicauie are 

 confined to the Old World, and almost entirely to the north temperate zone, one 

 only being found in Australia, and another in South Africa. 



1. P. nudicauie (Linn. Sp. PL 725) ; scapo unifloro, flore croceo. 



■JEtian, Monog. Pap. 17 ; Sims, Bot. Mag. t. 1633 ; DC. Syst. ii. 71, 

 Prod. i. 117. P. alpinum, Linn. Sp. PI, 725 ; Led. PI. Ross. i. 87 ; DC. 

 I. c. P. Pyrenaicum, DC. I. c 3 et P. microearpum, DC. I. c. P. auran- 

 tiacum, Lois.; DC. Fl. Fr. Suppl. 585. P. croceum, Led. PL Alt. ii. 271. 



Hab. Tibetia occidentalis alpina j in summis montibus Ladak et 

 Nubra, alt. 16-17,000 ped.! Afghanistan, 15,000 ped., Griff.!— (Fl. 

 iug.) (v. v.) 



Distrib. Per totam zonam arcticam ad lat. bor. 78°! in alpibus 

 Jforvegise ! Helvetiae ! Pyrenasis ! Daburise ! et Altai ! in montibus sco- 

 pulosis Am ericas borealis ! 



Spithamieum v. pedale. Folia radicalia petiolata, 2-4-pollicaria, lineari-obovata 

 v. oblouga, pinnatilida, lobis paucis oblougis acutis utrinque pilosis. Scapi 3-5, gra- 

 ciles, patentim hispido-pilosi. Flores 1-3 poll. diam. Sepala hirsuta. Filamenta 

 capillaria. Capsula late obovata, strigoso-hispida, stigmate profunda inciso. 



We have followed Elkan in uniting the P. alpinum, nudicauie, Pyrenaicum, cro- 

 i and aurantiacum, amongst which we can find no specific characters. Our 

 Tibetan specimens perfectly accord with Arctic American and Siberian ones, 



2 K 



