XII. PAPAVEEACE^. 217 



parietal placentas, many-ovuM. Fbuit capsular or siliquose. Seeds albuminous. 

 Embryo minute, basilar.— Stem, herbaceous. Leaves alternate. 



Annual or perennial heebs, rarely suffrutescent {Bocconia, Dendromecon) ; juice 

 milky, yellow, -white, or red, rarely watery {Eechscholtda, Hunnemannia, Platystemon, 

 &c.). Leaves alternate, simple, penninerved, toothed or pennilobed. Infloees- 

 CENCE terminal; peduncles usually 1-flowered, rarely bearing an umbellate cyme 

 {Ghelidonium) or panicle {Bc-cmiia, Macleya). Flowees 5 , regular, yellow or red, 

 very rarely blue [Meconopsis Wallichii, &c.). Sepals 2 (rarely 3), free, or very 

 rarely coherent into a cap {EschschoUzia), lateral, overlapping each other, caducous. 

 Petals hypogynous, very rarely perigynous {EschschoUzia), equal, free, usually 

 double the number of the sepals, rarely 8 or 12, 2-3-seriate [Sanguinaria], rarely 

 {Bocconia, Macleya), often crumpled before expansion, the outer equitant on the inner. 

 Stameks hypogynous, very rarely perigynous {EschschoUzia), free, usually oo many- 

 seriate, rarely 4-6 1-seriate {Platystigma, section Meconella) ; filaments filiform ; anthers 

 2-celled, basifixed, dehiscence longitudinal. Carpels connate into an ovoid or oblong 

 1- celled ovary ; placentas 2- co, parietal, sometimes prolonged into vertical incomplete 

 septa {Papaver), sometimes marginal and filiform {Ghelidonium, Argemone, Rcemeria, 

 &c.) ; style short or obsolete ; stigmas as many as placentas, persistent, jnore or less 

 connate, sub-sessile, or arranged in rays on the surface of an orbicular disk formed by 

 the styles, and which crowns the ovary {Papaver) ; ovules anatropous, ascending or 

 horizontal, micropyle inferior, raphe superior or lateral. Eipe caepels very rarely 

 distinct {Platystemon), generally connate into a capsule, or one-celled siliqua, 

 rarely 2-celled owing to a cellular development of the placentas {Glaucium) ; opening 

 either by valves between the placentas {Papaver), or in two or four valves separating 

 from below upwards {Ghelidonium), of from above downwards, leaving the placentas 

 exposed {Glaucium, Stylophormn) ; rarely fleshy when young {Bocconia, Sanguinaria) . 

 Seeds usually numerous, rarely definite {Macleya), or solitary {Bocconia), globose or 

 ovoid, sub-reniform {Papaver), or crested along the raphe {Ghelidonium, &c.) or not ; 

 albumen copious, oily. Embryo minute, basilar ; radicle near the hilum and centri- 

 fugal. 



PEINCIPAL GENERA. 



* Platystemon. Platystigma. * Papaver. * Argemone. 'Meconopsis. 

 Stylophoruni. 'Sanguinaria. * Bocconia. * Glaucium. Eoemeria. 



* Chelidonium. Hunnemannia. * Eschsoholtzia. Dendromecon. 



Papamraceee are closely allied to Fainariacecs, which are only distinguished by their irregular petals, 

 their definite, usually diadelphous stamens, and their non-oleaginous albumen. They approach CrueifercB in 

 their flower formed on the binary type, in hypopetalism, parietal placentation, capsular siliquose fruit, 

 polyandry (Megacarpad), and oily seed ; but Cmdferce are usually tetradynamous, their ovary is two- 

 celled, their ovules ai-e campylotropous, and their seed exalbaminous. Papaveraceee are also near 

 RanunculacecB, Berlerideee, and NymphceacecB (see these families). One monotypal Oalifornian genus, 

 Crossosoma, placed among ManunculacecB, approaches Papaveraceee in its monosepalous calyx, polyandry, 

 perigynous petals and stamens (as in JEschscholtzia), and in the separation of the carpels (as in Platystemon) ; 

 it differs in its isomerous calyx and corolla, and multifid aril enveloping the seeds. 



Papaveraceee inhabit the temperate and subtropical regions of the northern hemisphere ; but few are met 

 with in the tropics or southern hemisphere. Some species are now dispersed over cultivated ground through- 

 out the world. The most important of the Papaveraceee with milky juice is the Papaver somnifermn, an 



