PLATE IX. 



1. ARGEMONE MEXICANA 



MEXICAN ARGEMONE. 



Tins genus comprehends a planl of the annual kind : The Prickly 

 Poppy. 



It belongs to the class and order Polyandria Monogynia, and ranks 

 in the natural order of RhaeadecK. 



The characters of which are: that the calyx is a three-leaved, 

 roundish perianth: the leaflets roundish with a point, concave and 

 caducous: the corolla consists of six roundish petals, from erect 

 spreading, larger than the calyx: the stamina consist of numerous 

 filiform filaments, the length of the calyx: the anthers are oblong 

 and erect: the pislillum is an ovate, five-angled germ: there is no 

 style: the stigma thickish, obtuse, reflex, quinquefid and permanent: 

 the pericarpium is an ovate, five-angled, one-celled, half-valved cap- 

 sule: the seeds numerous and very small: the receptacles linear, 

 fastened to the angles of the pericarpium, but not gaping: the half- 

 valved capsule distinguishes this from the Papaver. 



There is only one species cultivated in the garden: A. Mexicana. 



It is an annual plant, rising to the height of two or three feet, with 

 stems armed with prickles: leaves 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 midrib and veins: the flowers are 

 solitary at the ends of the stem and branches: the corolla is yellow, 

 with from four to six petals: the calyx consists of two or three prickly 

 leaves; the stigma is capitate, small, with five notches: the capsule 



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