72 



BRITISH FLOWERING PLANTS 



themselves gradually into an upright position before 

 they open. Yochting^ found that if the ovary is 

 destroyed this change does not take place. On the 

 other hand, the usual change took place even when all 

 the other parts of the flower were removed. When the 

 .--^ -xtLss^ capsule is ripe a series of little doors 

 '*'*^' open (Fig. 41) near the summit, through 

 which, when the plant is swung by the 

 wind, the seeds come out, and are thus 

 thrown to some distance. This throws 

 light on the at first sight remarkable 

 fact that in so many plants which have 

 capsules they open, not, as we might 

 perhaps at first sight have expected, at 

 the bottom, but, on the contrary, at the 

 summit. The little doors close when it 

 is wet, and are protected from rain by 

 overhanging eaves. 



P. somniferum. — This species is so 

 called because opium is obtained from 

 it. It is a glaucous green erect annual, 

 glabrous or with a few hairs on the 

 FIG. 4i.-capli^ie of pedunclcs, about 3 feet high. The 

 a Poppy, a, indi- leavcs clasp the stem at the base, and 

 cates level of ape.- ^^^ q\,\o^^^ toothcd Or lobed. The large 

 flowers are bluish white, with a purple 

 or nearly black base. The flower remains open for 

 two days. The flat summit of the ovary forms a con- 

 venient alighting stage for insects, which dust them- 

 selves with pollen. They cannot alight on the petals, 

 which, though large, are thin. The large capsule is 

 globular. 



The plant occurs as an escape from cultivation in 

 our southern counties and in the Fens. It is widely 

 cultivated in temperate and warm regions in Europe, 

 Asia, and North Africa. Mr. Reid says it was culti- 

 vated in Neolithic times, and its seeds have been found 

 in the Swiss lake-dwellings. 



' Die Bewegtmgen der Blilthen und FrucJite. Bonn, 1882. 



