20 
T II ALA M I FLO It IK . 
stamens. Stamens numerous, in several rows. Stigmata rayed. 
Nectary in the centre of the stigmata, mamillary. 
ORDER IX. PAPAVERACEAh 
Calycine sepals 2, leafy, deciduous. Petals hypo- 
gynous, irregularly plicate previous to evolution, either 
4, or a multiple of that number. Stamens hypogy- 
nous, 8, 12, or some other multiple of 4. Ovary 1 : 
style short, or none : stigmata 2, or many. Capsule 
1 -celled with several placentae, or pod-shaped with 2 
parietal placentae. Seeds co , very rarely (and that 
from abortion) solitary : albumen between fleshy and 
oily : embryo minute : cotyledons plano-convex, ovato- 
oblong. 
The greater number of the plants composing this Order are 
annuals. The leaves are alternate : peduncles axillary and 
terminal : flowers usually large, of a white, yellow, or red, but 
never of a blue colour. All parts abound with a milky juice, 
usually white, rarely yellow or tinged with red, of a gum- 
resinous nature, to the taste acrid and bitter, and possessing, 
especially when white, a narcotic property. The seeds of all 
the species are oily, and are in no degree narcotic. 
I. Argemone. 
Calycine sepals 2-3, concave, mucronate, rough 
with aculeiform hairs. Petals 4-6. Stamens od. 
Ovary ovate, crowned with 4-7 radiating persistent 
stigmata. Capsule 1 -celled, dehiscent at the apex. 
Seeds spherical, scrobiculate De Cand. 
Name from ccgysaa, the disease cataract of the eye, for which 
the juice of this plant was supposed to be a remedy. 
I. Argemone Mexicana. Mexican or Gamboge 
Thistle. 
Papaver spinosum, Aactorum Antig. — A. Mexicana, Bot. 
Mag. 243. — De Cand. Syst. II. 85. 
HAB. Common, especially in the plains. 
