papaveracejE. . 433 



copious ; embryo cylindrical, lying at the base of the seed ; radicle 

 pointing to the hilum. — Herbaceous plants, found in boggy places, 

 having radical leaves, the petioles of which are folded, and cohere at 

 the edges, so as to form ascidia or hollow tubes, which are lined with 

 hairs, and act as secreting organs (fig. 203, p. 96). Scapes one or 

 more flowered. (See remarks on the physiology of these ascidia at 

 p. 383.) The plants are found chiefly in North America. Darlingtonia 

 grows on the Rocky Mountains, Heliamphora on Roraima Mountain in 

 Venezuela. Their properties are not known. There are 3 genera, 

 including 8 species. Examvples — Sarracenia, Heliamphora, Darlingtonia. 



Order 9. — PAPAVERACEiE, the Poppy Family. (Polypet. Hypog.) 

 Sepals 2, rarely 3, caducous. Petals hypogynous, usually 4, cruciate, 

 sometimes a multiple of 4, regular, rarely wanting. Stamens hypo- 

 gynous, usually 00, sometimes a multiple of 4 ; anthers dithecal, in- 

 nate. Ovary solitary ; style short or none ; stigmas 2, or many and 

 radiating (fig. 444, p. 249) ; ovules 00, anatropal (fig. 457, p. 256). 

 Fruit unilocular, either siliquseform with two, or capsular with seve- 

 ral parietal placentas. Seeds numerous ; albumen between fleshy and 

 oily ; embryo minute, at the base of the albumen, with plano-convex 

 cotyledons. — Herbs or shrubs, usually with milky or coloured juice, 

 having alternate exstipulate leaves, and long one-flowered peduncles. 

 The plants belonging to this order are chiefly European. The species, 

 however, are found scattered over tropical America, Asia, China, Aus- 

 tralia, Cape of Good Hope, etc. Lindley mentions 20 known 

 genera, and 140 species. Examples — Papaver, Meconopsis, Esch- 

 soholtzia, Sanguinaria, Glaucium, Chelidonium, Platystemon. 



The order possesses well-marked narcotic properties. Opium is the 

 concrete milky juice procured from the nearly ripe capsules of Papaver 

 somniferum, and its varieties. The plant is a native of Western Asia, 

 and probably also of the south of Europe ; but it has been distributed 

 over various countries. There are four kinds of opium known in 

 commerce, viz. Turkey, Egyptian, East Indian, and Persian; of 

 which the first is the kind chiefly used in Britain. The most im- 

 portant active principle in opium is the alkaloid called morphia. 

 There are other crystalline principles found in it, such as codeia, 

 narcotine, thebaia, meconine, and an acid called meconic acid, which 

 constitutes with sulphuric acid the solvent of the active principles. 

 Opiiim is administered so as to act as a stimulant, a narcotic, ano- 

 dyne, or diaphoretic. The seeds of the Opium Poppy yield a 

 bland, wholesome oil. The petals of Papaver Rhceas, red com 

 poppy, or corn-rose, are used in pharmacy chiefly for their colouring ■ 

 matter. Chelidonium majus, Celandine, yields an orange-coloured juice, 

 which is said to have acrid properties. In this plant, observations 

 were made by Schultz on Cyclosis (fig. 241, p. 146). Eschscholtzia 

 is remarkable for the dilated apex of tht peduncle, from which the 



2f 



