Papaver.] i'Loka indica. 249 



sum, oleosum. Embryo parvus, hilum versus albumine inclusus ; cot.y- 

 ledonibus 1-4, plerumque 3, radicula ab hilo remota centrifuga. 



AVe commence with Papaveracea the series of polypetalous Thalamiflorce with 

 consolidated carpels, parietal placentation, and anthers not adnata with the filament to 

 that degree that they are in all the previously descrihed families. Its afEnities are 

 not doubtful: they have been alluded to under Nymphaacece and Berberidea, but 

 are so much more nearly related to the following Orders, Fumariacecs, Cruciferis, 

 and Capparitleis, that they are by some authors included with them into one great 

 alliance, the Rheeades of Endlicher and Meisner. Endlicher unites Fumariacem and 

 Papaveracea into one Order, and Brongniart classes them together as Papaverinecp. 

 Hi/pecoum, indeed, amongst Fumariaceee, being quite intermediate in structure, is the 

 connecting link between these Orders, and Platystemon, z, Papaveraceous genus with 

 free ovaries, is the passage between the two groups of apocarpous and syiicarpous 

 families, more especially showing the afluity of Papaveracete with Ni/mphccaceiB on 

 the one hand, and with Panunculacea on the other. With Crudferce this Order is 

 allied not only by the structure of the fruit of many species, but by the quaternary 

 arrangement of the sepals and petals. 



Papaveracea are almost entirely natives of the northern hemisphere and of extra- 

 tropical regions. They are numerous in Northern India, but attain their maximum 

 in Western North America. Their properties are narcotic, and their seeds usually 

 yield a bland oil. 



1. PAPAVER, L. 



Sepala 3, rarius 3, conoava. Petala 4, ravius 6. Stamina indefinita. 

 Ovarium e carpellis 4 v. pluribus, stigmatibus radiantibus coronatum. 

 Capsula placentis parietalibus in cavitatem projeotis poh'sperma, poris 

 V. valvis brevibus infra stigmata deliiscens. — Herbse succo lacteo, sape 

 hispidce, radicibusjt^roiw, {6\i\s plei-umque lobatis dentatisque, pedunculis 

 axillaribus solitariis unijloris nudis. 



About twelve species of Pwpaver are known, of which all but P. nudicaule are 

 confined to the Old World, and almost entirely to the north temperate zone, one 

 only being found in Australia, and another in South Africa. 



1. P. nudicaule (Linn. Sp. PL 735) ; scapo unifloro, flore croceo. 

 —Elkan, Monog. Pap. 17 ; Sims, Pot. Mag. t. 1633 ; DC. Syst. ii. 71, 

 Prod. i. 117. P. alpinum, Linn. Sp. PI. 735 ; Led. PI. Ross. i. 87 ; DC. 

 I. c. P. Pyrenaicum, DC. I. c, et P. microcarpum, BO. I. c. P. auran- 

 tiacum, Lois.; DC. PL Fr. Suppl. 585. P. crooeum, Led. PI. Jit. ii. 371. 



Hab. Tibetia occidentaUs alpina : in summis montibus Ladak et 

 Nubra, alt. 16-17,000 ped.! Afghanistan, 15,000 ped., Griff.!— (Fl 

 Aug.) (u. V.) 



DiSTRiB. Per totam zonam arcticam ad Lit. bor. 78°! in alpibus 

 Norvegite ! Helvetise ! Pyreneeis ! Dahurise ! et Altai ! in montibus soo- 

 pulosis Americae borealis ! 



Spithamaium v. pedale. Folia, radicalia petiolata, 2-4-poIlicaria, lineari-obovata 

 V. oblonga, pinnatifida, lobis panels oblongis acutis utrinque pilosis. Scapi 3-5, gi-a- 

 ciles, patentim hispido-pilosi. Fiores 1-3 poU. diam. Sepa/a hirsute. ^ Filamenta 

 capillaria. Capsula late obovata, strigoso-hispida, stigmate profunde inciso. 



We have followed Elkan in uniting the P. alpinum, nudicaule, Pyrenaicum, cro- 

 ceum and aurantiacum, amongst which we can find no specific characters. Our 

 Tibetan specimens perfectly accord with Arctic American and Siberian ones. 



3 K 



