NAT. ORDER. 
PapaveracecB. 
PAPAVER SOMNIFERUM. WHITE POPPY. 
Class XIII. PoLYANDRiA. Order I. Monogynia. 
Gen. Char Corolla, four-petalled. Calyx, two-leaved. Capsule, 
one-celled, opening by pores, under the persistent stigma. 
Spe. Char. Calyces and Capsules, smooth. Leaves, incised, and 
embracing the stem. 
The root is annual, tapering and branched ; the stalk is round, 
smooth, erect, often branched, of a glaucous green color, and rises 
two or three feet in height ; the leaves are alternate, large, ovate, 
lobed, smooth, deeply cut into various segments, and closely em- 
brace the stalk ; the Jlowers are very large, terminal, and usually 
white or purplish ; the calyx consists of two leaves, which are 
ovate, smooth, concave, bifid, and fall off on the opening of the 
flower ; the corolla consists of four petals, which are large, round- 
ish, entire, undulated ; the filaments are numerous, slender, much 
.shorter than the corolla, and furnished with oblong, erect, com- 
pressed anthers ; the germen is large, globular, and upon it is 
placed the stigma, which is large, flat, radiated, and forms a kind 
of crown : the capsule is one-celled, smooth, divided half way into 
many cells, which open by several apertures beneath the crown, 
and contain a very large number of small white seeds. It is a 
native of Asia, and is found wild in the south of Europe, where 
the seed had probably been accidentally scattered. It is also cul- 
tivated in many parts of England. 
