LONG PRICKLY-HEADED POPPY. 



Tapavcr Argemone, 



Class POLYANDRIA. OrcZf /' MoNOGYNIA. Nut. Ovd. Pap AVERAGES. 



Poppy Tribe. 



This scarlet Poppy, though not an nnfrequent 

 flower in the cornfield durins^ the month of 

 June, is not the most common of onr native 

 species. It may be distinguished from the 

 other kinds by its narrower petals. It is, how- 

 ever, like the large common Scarlet Poppy, 

 Popaver Phceas,) slightly narcotic in its pro- 

 perties, and the fohage of both species has 

 been used as a culinary vegetable. In England 

 the scarlet flowers of our wild poppies are col- 

 lected and made into a syrup, ^vhicli is used as 

 an ingredient in soups, gruels, and porridge. 

 The blossoms of all the poppies are very fragile, 

 and on this account the largest of our wild 

 kinds received the specific name of Rhaeas, 

 from the Greek word " to flow," or " fall." 

 The whole genus is termed Papaver, from the 

 Celtic word " papa," which signifies the pap 

 or soft food given to infants, among which it 



