4 io THE PAPAVERALES 



143. Papaverales, the Poppy Order. This group includes two 

 very well known families: (i) The poppies, with such familiar 

 plants as the poppy (Papaver), sea poppy (Gfaucium), celandine 

 (Chelidonium) , soldier's cap (Bicuculla) , fumitory (Adlunda), 

 corydalis (Capnoides) (Fig. 308). (2) The mustards, includ- 

 ing the peppergrass (Lepidium), hedge mustard (Sisymbrium), 

 white and black mustard (Sinapis and Brassica), yellow rocket 

 (Barbarea), cress (Roripa), toothwort (Dentaria), shepherd's 

 purse (Bursa), whitlow grass (Draba), rock cress (Arabis) 

 (Fig. 309). The families of the caper and mignonette are also 

 included in the order. These plants are closely related to the 

 Ranales, as is indicated by their simple and showy flowers, the 

 various organs usually being in multiples of two and quite dis- 

 tinct (flowers hypogynous) save in the case of the carpels. These 

 organs are united as in the water lilies and more commonly 

 reduced to two, thus forming a sharp contrast with the preceding 

 order. 



(a) The Bloodroot, Sanguinaria. This plant is typical of 

 the simpler members of the poppy family (Fig. 308). These 

 plants form colonies in rather open, rich woods owing to their 

 fleshy rhizomes, and like many plants with storage organs, flower 

 very early in the spring. The flowers endure for about two days, 

 but the large-lobed leaves are conspicuous features of the forest 

 carpet for several weeks while they are manufacturing the food 

 for the next season. The large leaves are tightly rolled about 

 the solitary flower and enveloped in a papery sheath as they 

 emerge from the soil. A juice, latex, is found in the majority 

 of the plants of this order, and in this example it is of a blood- 

 red color, thus giving the latin and popular name to the plant, 

 Sanguinaria, or bloodroot. The flowers are of the simple open 

 type noted in the buttercup, having two sepals which fall with 

 the opening of the flower, petals 8-12, stamens indefinite and a 

 compound pistil of two carpels, as is indicated by the two stig- 

 mas and two rows of ovules (Fig. 308, C). The stigmas are 

 receptive as soon as the flower opens, but the anthers remain 

 closed, and so the spores must be carried from an older flower. 

 The petals close during the late afternoon and when opened on 



