PAPAVER RHCEAS-RED POPPY, 



CLASS, POLYANDRIA ; ORDER, MONOGYNIA, 



NATURAL ORDER, PAPAVERACE^E. i 



GEN. CHAR. Calyx two leaved. Corolla four petaled. Cap- 

 sules one celled, opening by holes under the permanent stigmas. 

 SPEC; CHAR. Capsules urn-shaped, smooth. Stem hairy, many 

 flowered. Leaves, pinnatifid, incised. 



"..- r i 



This is the type of the natural order that bears its name. Tm> 

 flower in its double state is one of extreme beauty, both on account 

 of its crumpled and delicate texture, elegance of shape and variety 

 in coloring ; some being perfectly white, others plain rose, blush 

 scarlet, or crimson ; and on others the pencil of nature seems to 

 have blended the dyes in the most finished style of coloring, with 

 petals thin as gossamer and double as the rose. This flower bursts 

 out of its confinement at maturity with considerable force, throwing 



off the two leaved caducous calyx to some distance, and aston- 



j 



ishing the beholder wljo .sees so large and so beautiful a corolla 

 escape from so small a dwelling. Its petals are frequently white, 

 with a delicate edging of scarlet or rose color, or red petals with 

 white edges, so variously diversified that two plants are seldom 

 alike in three flowers. Where this single kind abounds it denotes 

 a light and shallow soil, and it is singular that when such land is 

 oroken up in the spring and no Poppies whatever to scatter the 

 seed, this plant in Europe will be as sure to cover the ground the 



