PAPAVERACEyt 2j3 



Papaveraceae: 



This order consists of annual or perennial herbs contain- 

 ing a milky juice; the alternate leaves are usually incised 

 or divided into lobes, the flowers are regular and carried 

 at the ends of the stems with a calyx of two, or sometimes 

 three concave, transient sepals and a corolla of four, or 

 rarely eight to twelve, smooth deciduous petals, crumpled 

 in the unexpanded bud; stamens very numerous; the fruit 

 is either an ovoid capsule, crowned by the stigmas, or a 

 pod not unlike those found in Cruciferae. 



Papavcr 



Eng.: Poppy; Tr.: Pavot; Ger.: Mohn. 



P. alpinum (PL X). A delicate and charming little 

 rock-plant, forming tiny tufts of crowded, short branches, 

 breaking at the extremities into bluish-green leaves, more 

 or less finely cut and divided; each of the numerous, slim, 

 drooping foot-stalks (i /a-6 in. high) bears a large solitary 

 flower with four waved petals, snow-white in colour and 

 shimmering like silk; they are delicately scented. This 

 somewhat rare plant is found (i 2oo-3ooo m.) among rocks 

 and fissures of the limestone. P. rhzeticum from the gra- 

 nitic eastern Alps is almost identical, except for big, pale 

 saffron flowers. May-September. 



In cultivation it is one of the most delightful alpines, 

 exacting nothing but a poor, pebbly soil, and a cool posi- 

 tion but exposed to the sun. Moisture around the collar 

 is apt to kill it in English winters, but fortunately it ger- 

 minates readily from seed which may be scattered where it 

 is intended to flower. Many variations of shape and tint 



