OP ORNAMENTAL ANNUALS. 
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GENUS II. 
ARGEMONE, Tour. THE PRICKLY POPPY. 
Lin. Syst. POLYANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 
Generic Character. —Petals 4—6. Stamens indefinite. Style almost wanting. Stigmas 4—5, radiating, concave, free. Capsule obovato, 
prickly, 4—5-valved ( D. Don.) 
Description, &c.— The different kinds of Argemone have all flowers resembling in shape the single corn 
poppy, but varying in colour from bright yellow to pure white. The leaves are wrinkled, and they are curved up 
at their margins like those of the holly, and armed with numerous sharp prickles. The capsule, which is also 
armed with prickles, is in four or five valves; and the points of the stigmas, instead of being bound down like 
cords over the lid of the capsule, form a kind of cross at the top. The stem when broken exudes a yellow juice, 
resembling that of the poppy in thickness though not in colour. There are three species in British gardens. 
1.—ARGEMONE MEXICANA, Lin. THE MEXICAN, OR COMMON PRICKLY POPPY. 
Engraving. —Bot. Mag. t. 243, and our fig. 5, in Plate 5. 
Specific Character. —Leaves profoundly repand-sinuated, spiny, 
blotched with white; flowers solitary; calyx smooth; capsules 
prickly, 3—4-valved ; petals 4—6; stigmas 4—5.—(G. Don.) 
Variety.— A. M. 2 albiflora, Dec. Leaves sessile, feather-nerved ; 
flowers white. See fig. 4, Plate 4. 
Description, History, &c. —The common prickly poppy grows about two feet high, with strong, vigorous, 
and erect stems. The leaves are large, deeply cut, and prickly; and they are of a bluish green, blotched, or 
rather painted with white, up the mid-rib and principal veins. The flowers are of a bright yellow, and are about the 
size and shape of those of the corn poppy. The capsules are oblong, and armed with strong prickles. The 
white-flowered variety, Jig. 4, which is by many botanists considered a distinct species, differs not only in the 
colour of the flowers, but in the leaves being much narrower, and not blotched with white. 
This species is a native of Mexico, where it was found by the Spaniards on their first invasion of that 
country, and called by them Figo del Inferno, the devil’s fig, from the shape of the capsule somewhat resembling 
that of a fig, and its being armed with strong spines. It is also found in the West Indies, where it is called the 
golden thistle of Peru. It was brought to England in 1590, and is mentioned by Gerard among the plants 
cultivated in his garden. The prickly poppy is used in medicine. Its yellow juice, when reduced to the con¬ 
sistence of a gum, can scarcely be distinguished from gamboge, and is applied to the same uses. It is also 
considered an excellent medicine for the eyes, and is supposed to form the principal ingredient in Singleton’s Golden 
Ointment. The seeds are a powerful narcotic, and an oil is expressed from them which is used in Mexico, not 
only by painters, but for polishing wood. The culture is very simple, as the seeds will only require to be sown 
in the open flower border about the end of March or the beginning of April, the plants, though natives of a warm 
country, being quite hardy. Seeds are to be obtained in every seed-shop. 
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