Flora of North America species comparison

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Papaver argemone

Papaver californicum

long prickly-head poppy, pale rough fruit poppy, prickly pod poppy

fire poppy, western poppy
Habit Plants to 5 dm, hispid. Plants to 6.5 dm, glabrate or sparsely pilose.
Stems

simple or branching.

simple or branching.
Leaves

to 12[-20] cm.

to 15 cm.
Inflorescences

peduncle appressed-hispid.

peduncle glabrous or sparsely pilose.
Flowers

petals dark red, sometimes with dark basal spot, to 25 mm;

anthers pale blue;

stigmas 4-6, disc convex and radially vaulted.

petals light orange or orange-red, with pink-edged, greenish basal spot, to 2.5 cm;

anthers yellow;

stigmas 4-8(-11), disc conic, usually umbonate.
Capsules

sessile, oblong to clavate, distinctly ribbed, to 2 cm, sparsely and weakly setose.

sessile, ellipsoid to obovoid-turbinate, distinctly ribbed, to 1.8 cm.
2n

= 28.

Papaver argemone

Papaver californicum
Phenology Flowering spring–summer. Flowering spring.
Habitat Fields and disturbed sites Chaparral and oak woodlands, especially in grassy areas, clearings, burns and other disturbed sites
Elevation 0-300 m (0-1000 ft) 0-900 m (0-3000 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
ID; OR; PA; UT; Europe; sw Asia [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

In its native range, Papaver argemone is a complex of five diploid, tetraploid, and hexaploid subspecies (J. W. Kadereit 1986, 1990). Apparently two or more of these have been represented among the crop weeds and ballast waifs introduced in North America, where plants are difficult to assign to particular subspecies. The species should be expected elsewhere in the flora. Collections attributed to Maryland, Ohio, and Virginia are known also, but they lack more specific citations of locality.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Papaver californicum grows in central western and southwestern California in the Coast, Transverse, and Peninsular ranges. This is the only caulescent poppy, and the only annual one, native to the flora. In the past it has been included in Papaver sect. Rhoeadium, together with the other annuals that have glabrous capsules and distal leaves not clasping, which are native to Eurasia. Recently, based on differences in filament color, stigmatic disc shape, and capsule dehiscence, J. W. Kadereit (1988b) assigned P. californicum to a new monotypic section and suggested that it originated from the same stock as the perennial, scapose, arctic-alpine poppies (Papaver sect. Meconella).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 3. FNA vol. 3.
Parent taxa Papaveraceae > Papaver > sect. Argemonidium Papaveraceae > Papaver > sect. Californicum
Sibling taxa
P. alboroseum, P. californicum, P. dubium, P. gorodkovii, P. hybridum, P. lapponicum, P. macounii, P. mcconnellii, P. nudicaule, P. orientale, P. pygmaeum, P. radicatum, P. rhoeas, P. somniferum, P. walpolei
P. alboroseum, P. argemone, P. dubium, P. gorodkovii, P. hybridum, P. lapponicum, P. macounii, P. mcconnellii, P. nudicaule, P. orientale, P. pygmaeum, P. radicatum, P. rhoeas, P. somniferum, P. walpolei
Synonyms P. lemmonii
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 506. (1753) A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 22: 313. (1887)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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