336 MISC. PUBLICATION 42 3, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



3. Eschscholtzia minutiflora S. Wats., Amer. Acad. Arts and Sci. Proc 

 11: 122. 1876. 



Eschscholtzia micrantha Greene, Pittonia 5: 277. 1905. 

 Eschscholtzia ludens Greene, Pittonia 5: 272. 1905. 



Mohave County to Pinal, Maricopa, and Yuma Counties, 3,000 

 feet or lower, commonly in sandy soil, March to May. Southern Utah 

 to southeastern California and western Arizona. 



3. ARGEMONE. Pricklepoppy 



Perennial, herbaceous, glaucous, rather coarse, prickly plants, with 

 yellow sap; stems erect, leafy; flowers large; petals 4 to 6, white or 

 pale yellow, contrasting with the numerous orange-colored stamens; 

 stigma large, with radiating lobes ; capsule dehiscent apically by valves. 



The name chicalote also is applied to these plants. The white- 

 flowered species are handsome and, except for the prickles, resemble 

 the Matilija-poppy (Romneya) of California. The plants grow in dry 

 soil in fields and at roadsides and are decidedly drought resistant. 

 They are unpalatable to livestock. An abundance of these plants 

 on cattle range is an indication of excessive overgrazing. The acrid 

 yellow juice of A. mexicana has been used to treat cutaneous diseases. 



Key to the species 



1. Petals pale yellow to orange; herbage sparsely spiny, without fine bristles; 



horns of the sepals without lateral spines 1. A. mexicana. 



1. Petals white, occasionally tinged with pink (2). 



2. Horns of the sepals long and slender, dilated only at base, without lateral 

 spines or with a very few slender ones near the base; valves of the cap- 

 sule not becoming indurate-thickened, rather sparsely spiny; herbage 



with few or no short fine bristles 2. A. intermedia. 



2. Horns of the sepals short and stout, dilated well above the base, usually with 

 several lateral spines and bristles, these sometimes extending nearly to 

 the apex of the horn; valves of the capsule becoming indurate-thickened, 

 usually copiously to densely spiny; herbage usually with numerous 

 short fine bristles 3. A. platyceras. 



1. Argemone mexicana L., Sp. PL 508. 1753. 



Occasional near Tucson, Pima County, April and May, probably 

 introduced from tropical America. 



2. Argemone intermedia Sweet, Hort. Brit., ed. 2, 585. 1830. 

 Yavapai, Pinal, Santa Cruz, and Pima Counties, 1,300 to 5,000 feet, 



flowering most of the year. South Dakota and Wyoming to Arizona 

 and northern Mexico. 



3. Argemone platyceras Link and Otto, Icon. PL Rar. 1: 85. 1828. 

 Apache, Navajo, and Coconino Counties, south to Cochise, Santa 



Cruz, and Pima Counties, 1,400 to 8,000 feet, flowering almost through- 

 out the year. Nebraska and Wyoming to Arizona and Mexico. 



Specimens with numerous short and fine bristles approach var. 

 hispida (Gray) Prain (A. hispida Gray). 



4. ARCTOMECON. Desertpoppy 



Plants herbaceous, biennial or perennial, with a stout taproot; 

 leaves mostly basal, hirsute or hispid with long hairs, the blades 

 wedge-shaped, commonly dentate or 3-lobed at apex; flowers on long 





