Papaveraceae
-
Authority
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.
-
Family
Papaveraceae
-
Scientific Name
-
Description
Family Description - Fls regular, perfect, hypogynous; sep 2 or 3, fully enclosing the bud, caducous; pet 4 or more (rarely none), distinct, showy; stamens numerous; nectaries none; pistil of 2, less often 3 or 4, seldom (as in Argemone and Papaver) more numerous carpels, united to form a compound, typically unilocular ovary; ovules numerous on parietal placentas, but these sometimes (as in Papaver) deeply intruded as partial partitions, or the ovary seldom (as in Glaucium) fully partitioned into 2 locules; fr typically a unilocular capsule, dehiscent by partial or complete abscission of elongate valves alternating with the placentas, which form a persistent replum, or the valves sometime (as in Argemone and Papaver) reduced and subapical, so that the capsule opens by a ring of pores; capsule bilocular with deciduous valves in Glaucium; seeds with copious endosperm and small, dicotyledonous embryo, sometimes arillate; herbs or shrubs with milky or colored juice, mostly alternate lvs, and usually large fls. 25/200.
-
Discussion
Three spp., occasionally found as garden escapes, not included in the keys below, are: Eschscholzia californica Cham., California poppy; lvs ternately dissected into linear segments; fls long-peduncled, yellow or orange, 3–6 cm wide. Macleaya cordata (Willd.) R. Br., Plume poppy; perennial, to 2.5 m, with large, pinnately lobed lvs and large panicles; sep 2, caducous; pet none. Platystemon californicus Benth., Cream-cups; annual, 1–3 dm, with chiefly opposite, linear or lance-linear, entire lvs, long-peduncled, cream-yellow fls 3 cm wide, and fr of several separating carpels that fragment transversely.
-
Common Names
The poppy family