NAT. ORDER. 
' Papaveracece. 
ARGEMONE MEXICANA. MEXICAN ARGEMONE. 
Class XIII. PoLYANDRiA. Order I. Monogynia. 
Gen. Char. Sepals two or three, concave, mucronate. Petals four 
to six. Stamens indefinite. Style scarcely any. Stigmas four 
to six, opening. Seeds spherical, scrohiculate. 
Spe. Char. Leaves profoundly repand-sinuated, spiny, blotched 
with white. Flowers solitary. Calyx smooth. Capsules prickly, 
three or four valved. Petals four to six. Stigmas four to five. 
This is an annual plant, rising in height to two or three feet, with 
stems armed thickly with prickles ; the leaves are sinuate or jagged, 
soft, shining, stem- clasping, the points of the jags ending in sharp, 
yellow spines ; on the upper side there are milky veins, as in our 
Lady's Thistle ; on the under, small prickles along the mid-rib and 
veins ; the Jlowei's are solitary at the ends of the stem and branches ; 
the corolla is yellow, with from four to six petals ; the calyx consists 
of from two to six prickly leaves ; the stigma is capitate, small, and 
with five notches ; capsule superior, having five or six ribs from top 
to bottom, and between the ribs armed with bristle-shaped spines ; 
at the top is the flatted stigma ; the seeds are very numerous, round, 
black, rough, with a compressed scar on the side ; the valves of the 
capsule vary in number, as well as the petals, from four to six. This 
plant is a native of Mexico, and flowers in July and August, This 
plant is also found in Canada, and through all the States to Loui- 
siana, all over Florida, West Indies, Brazils, Africa, St. Helena, East 
Vol. iv.— 111. 
