| |
PRICKLY POPPY
|
 |
| File Size: 77 KB |
|
|
|
Argemone polyanthemos (Fedde ) G.B. Ownbey
|
| Ottawa County, Kansas |
| Annual |
| Height: 1-5 feet |
| Family: Papaveraceae - Poppy Family |
| Flowering Period: June, July, August, September |
|
| Also Called: | | White prickly poppy. | | Stems: | | Erect, stout, mostly solitary, unbranched or branched above, bluish green, waxy, sparingly prickly, contain yellowish orange sap. | | Leaves: | | Alternate, fleshy, bluish green, waxy, mostly glabrous above, prickles on veins below; lower leaves stalked, oblanceolate, 3 to 10 inches long, 1 to 4 inches wide, deeply pinnately lobed; upper leaves sessile or clasping, elliptic, oblong or ovate, reduced in size, only shallowly lobed; margins wavy, spiny-toothed. | | Inflorescences: | | 1- or few-flowered clusters, near top of stem. | | Flowers: | | Showy, 2 to 4 inches wide; sepals 3, widely elliptic, waxy, prickly; petals 6, large, white, thin, wrinkled; stamens numerous, yellow, in spherical arrangement; stigma 3-5 lobed. | | Fruits: | | Capsules, elliptic, 1 to 1.5 inches long, about .5 inch wide, covered with stout yellow spines; seeds numerous, small, shiny, dark brown. | | Habitat: | | Prairies, waste areas, pastures, flood plains, disturbed areas, and roadsides, most abundant in sandy soils. | | Distribution: | | Throughout Kansas. | | Uses: | | Native Americans used the bright yellow sap to remove warts and to dye arrow shafts; used the crushed seeds to treat burns, cuts, and sores; and boiled the plant and applied the resulting liquid to sunburns. | | Comments: | | An abundance of prickly poppy can indicate overgrazing. |
|
| Prickly poppy |  | | 76 KB | | Riley County, Kansas |
| | | | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
