40 WEEDS AND USEFUL PLANTS. 



torn from the ground and possessing the power of transforming men 

 and beasts. * 



ORDER Y. PAPAYERA'CE^. (POPPY FAMILY.) 



Herbs with a milky or colored juice and regular polyandrous, hypogynous flowers with 

 the parts in twos or fours ; sepals caducous ; fruit a 1-celled pod or capsule with 2 or more 

 parietal placentae ; seeds numerous, often crested ; embryo small, at the base of fleshy 

 and oily albumen. 



Herbs with a white juice. Seeds not crested. 



Capsule crowned by the radiate united stigmas. 1. PAPAVER. 



Herbs with a yellow or orange-colored juice. Seeds crested. 



Stigmas 4 -6. Pod and leaves prickly. 2. ARGEMONE. 



Stigmas 2. Pod narrow and smooth. 3. CHELIDONIUM. 



Stigma 2-grooved. Pod oblong, turgid. 4. SANGUINARIA. 



1. PAPA'YER, L. POPPY. 



[Derivation of the name not well ascertained.] 



Sepals 2. Petals 4 (sometimes multiplied) . Stigmas 4 - 20, sessile, 

 radiating on the summit of the ovary. Capsule obovoid, opening by 

 chinks or pores under the edge of the crown formed by the stigmas ; 

 placenta extending into the cavity so as to form incomplete partitions. 

 Flowers nodding before opening. 



1. P. du'bium, L. Stem clothed with slender spreading hairs 

 the peduncles with bristly appressed hairs ; leaves pinnately dissected, 

 the segments often incised, Recurrent ; sepals hairy ; capsules obovoid- 

 oblong, smooth. 



DUBIOUS PAP AVER. Poppy. Field-poppy. 



Fr. Pavot batard. Germ. Der Saat-Mohn. Span. Amapola. 



Root annual. Stem 1-2 feet high, somewhat branched below. Leaves 2-5 inches 

 long. Peduncles terminal, 6-12 inches long, llexuose, leafless. Petals pale red or brick 

 dust colored. Stigmas about 7-raycd, on a convex disk. 



Cultivated grounds ; introduced. Native of Europe. Fl. May. Fr. July, August. 



Obs. This has found its way into some districts ; and, if unattended 

 to, may become a troublesome weed as it and the " Corn Poppy " (P. 

 Rkoeas, L.) are in Europe. The common or Opium Poppy, (P. som- 

 niferum, L. a smooth species with stem-clasping leaves) which yields 

 the most efficacious and soothing of all anodynes is often seen in the 

 flowerbeds of our gardens. I believe there was an attempt made, near 

 New York, some 30 or 40 years ago, to cultivate that species for the 

 purpose of obtaining Opium : but it did not succeed and perhaps its 

 culture, even if practicable here, is better suited to the Orientals, than 

 to the people of our country. 



2. ARGEMO'NE, L. PEICKLY POPPY. 



[Greek, Argema, a disease of the eye ; supposed to be relieved by this plant.] 



Sepals mostly 3, prickly. Petals 4-6. Stigmas 3-6, subsessile, radiate. 

 Pod oblong, prickly, opening at the apex by 3 - 6 valves. Seeds crested. 

 Herbs with large showy flowers and yellowish ju:'ce. Flower buds erect. 



