Platystemon. PAPAYERACE^E. 1 9 



usually 1 -flowered and the flower-bud drooping before expansion. Petals imbricated 

 and commonly crumpled in the bud. Valves of the capsule in most cases separat- 

 ing from the slender placenta?, which remain as a kind of frame. — Dendromecon\s 

 the sole shrubby plant of the order. Platystemon is exceptional in having the sev- 

 eral carpels all distinct, or at least early separating, and forming as many torulose 

 pods, and the upper leaves are disposed to be opposite or in whorls. Esclischoltzia 

 has the two sepals united into a calyptra which falls off whole, and the juice is color- 

 less ; it is nearly so in Bomneya, in which the capsule is several-celled, more truly 

 than in a poppy, by the placenta} reaching the centre. And Arctomecon has per- 

 sistent petals ! 



An order of 1 7 genera and about 50 species, mostly inhabitants of the temperate and warm parts 

 of the northern hemisphere. Many have showy flowers, and are cultivated lor ornament. Opium 

 is derived limn the milky juice of the poppy (mostly P. somniferum, Linn.), and several other 

 species have reputed medicinal value. 



Pap-AVER soMMFEnr.M, Linn., extensively cultivated for opium, and familiar in gardens as an 

 ornamental annual, is not unlikely to occur spontaneously in sonic places. P. Khceas, Linn., the 

 Corn Poppy of Europe, might also have been expected in grain-fields, but it has not been reported. 

 The genus is known by the radiate sessile crown of stigmas, forming a cap over the summit of 

 the ovary and capsule, the latter opening only by pores under the margin of the crown. 



* Herbs : sepals 2 or 3 and distinct. 

 +- Annuals, with entire leaves, the uppermost opposite or whorled. 



1. Platystemon. Filaments very broad. Carpels few to many, in a circle, distinct or soon 



becoming so, forming as many slender torulose pods, tipped with the linear stigmas. 



2. Platystigma. Filaments slightly dilated or filiform. Ovary with 3 placentae, tipped with 



3 broad and Hat or linear stigmas, becoming a 3-valved capsule. 



+- +- Perennials, with lobed or toothed leaves, all alternate. 



3. Romneya. Sepals 3, winged. Stigmas several, oblong. Capsule bristly, several-celled, 



Beveral-valved from the top. Leaves divided. 



4. Arctomecon. Sepals mostly 2: petals 4, persistent. Stigma tbickish, 4-6-lobed. Cap- 



sule smooth, 1-celled, 4— 6-valved at the top. Leaves few-toothed. 



■*--*-+■ Annuals, with lobed or divided leaves. (Papavcr would belong here.) 



5. Argemone. Stigma 3-4-lobed, almost sessile. Capsule bristly or prickly. Leaves simple, 



prickly-toothed. 

 0. Meconopsis. Stigma 4-8-lobed on a club-shaped style. Capsule unarmed and smooth. 

 Leaves pinnately divided, unarmed. 



* * Shrub with entire leaves or nearly so. 

 7. Dendromecon. Stigmas 2, short and erect on a short style. Capsule linear, grooved, 

 2-valved. 



• « • Annual herbs : sepals completely United into a narrow pointed cap (calyptra), which falls 

 oil' entire from a dilated top-shaped receptacle. 



S. Eschscholtzia. Stigma-lobes 4 to 6, subulate, unequal : style very short : capsule linear, 

 grooved, 2-valved. 



1. PLATYSTEMON, Benth. 



Sepals 3. Petals G. Stamens many, with flattened filaments and linear anthers. 

 Carpels 6 to 25, at first united : stigmas linear, free. Fruit of as many distinct 

 lineal indehiscent torulose pods, 3-8-sceded, finally breaking transversely between 

 the seeds. — A low villous pale-green annual, with entire linear opposite leaves (the 

 lower alternate), and long-peduncled yellow Sowers. 



i. P. Californicus, Benth. slender, branching, 6 to 12 inches high, villous 

 with spreading hairs: leaves 2 to I inches long, sessile or clasping, broadly linear, 



obtuse : peduncles .") to S lines long, elect I the sepals villous ; pel lis pale yellow 



shading to orange in the centre, 3 to G lines long: carpels G to 25, aggregated 



