220 OKDER XI. PA PAVER ACE^. 



generally with a milky or yellow juice, often acrid, and gene- 

 rally narcotic. Flowers all belonging to the yellow series. 



ANALYSIS. 



1. Sepals 2 2 



Sepals 8 Argemone, 2 



'2. Petals S— 12 Sanguinaria, 3 



J Mais 4 3 



3. Plants yielding a white juice Papaver, 1 



Plants yieldtog a yellow juice 4 



4. Peduncles 1 -flowered Glaucium, 5 



Flowers in umbels Chelidonium, 4 



Genus L— PAPA'VKR. L. 12—1. (Poppy.) 

 (Origin of the name uncertain.) 



Sepals 2. Petals 4. Stamens numerous. Style 1. Stiff- 

 mas 4 — 20, radiating, sessile. Capsule 1-celled, opening by 

 pores beneath the lobes of the stigma ; many-seeded. 



1. P. somxif'erum, (L.) Stem erect, smooth. Leaven amplexicaul, 

 incised, rep;md ; teeth blunt. Petals large. Capsule smooth, with 

 numerous parietal placenta', opposite the lobes of the stigma. — White 

 or purple. July. Nearly naturalized. 



This is the species that yields the opium of commerce. The opium is the hardened 

 juice of the capsnle, obtained by incision soon after flowering. The com position of 



opium is very complex, containing not less than seventeen distinct substances. 



Gknus II.— ARGEMO'NE. L. 12—1. (Prickly Poppy.) 

 (From the Greek argeme, a disease of the eye, for which the juice was used.) 



Sepals 3, caducous. Petals 6. Stamens numerous. Stiff- 

 mas 4 — 7, sessile, or nearly so. Capsule opening by valves 

 separating from the placentae. Herbs with a yellow juice. 



1. A. Mexica'na, (L.) Leaves alternate, pinnatifid, and spiny. Flow- 

 er* solitary, axillary, and terminal. Calyx and capsule prickly. 



There seems to be several variations from the above description, 

 which constitute varieties of this species. The flowers vary much in 

 si/.*' and color, and in some the capsule is not prickly. We have never 

 met with such a one. — White. 0. From June through the summer. 

 In cultivated places, common. 



Genus III.— SA\C TIN ARIA. L. 12— 13. (Blood- root.) 

 (From Itsjoioe resembling blood.) 



Sepals 2, caducous. Petals vary from 8 — 12. Stame?is 

 numerous. Stigmas 2, sessile. Capsule oblong-ovate. Sods 

 numerous. Rhizoma yellowish-red. 



1. S. Canadkn'ms, (L.) Leave* renifbrm, palmate, 6 — 7-lobed, glau- 

 coua Petal* oblong, caducous. > <./ L-nowerecL Plant yields a 

 light red juice. — White. U- March. Common. Puccoonroot. 



Tiii> plant enjoys considerable reputation, both in the regular practice of medicine 



and in tbfl family' practice. It is a powerful medicine, and should he used by those 



