Papaver radicatum
Papaver argemone
arctic poppy, iceland poppy, Macoun's poppy, root poppy
long prickly-head poppy, pale rough fruit poppy, prickly pod poppy
simple or branching.
to 12 cm;
petiole 2/3 length of leaf;
blade green on both surfaces, not glaucous, lanceolate, 1-2x-lobed with 2-3(-4) pairs of primary lateral lobes;
primary lobes broadly lanceolate or strap-shaped, apex obtuse to acute.
to 12[-20] cm.
scapes erect or bowed and decumbent, less than 15 cm, sparsely to densely hispid.
peduncle appressed-hispid.
to 6.5 cm diam.;
petals yellow or white, rarely pink tinged, or brick red;
anthers yellow;
stigmas 4-7, disc convex.
petals dark red, sometimes with dark basal spot, to 25 mm;
anthers pale blue;
stigmas 4-6, disc convex and radially vaulted.
obovoid to subglobose, 1-2.5 times longer than broad, strigose, trichomes light to dark brown or black.
sessile, oblong to clavate, distinctly ribbed, to 2 cm, sparsely and weakly setose.
Papaver radicatum
Papaver argemone
Subspecies numerous (4 in the flora).
Many infraspecific taxa have been named from throughout the extensive range of this extremely variable species. Within North America, the following broadly circumscribed subspecies are generally, but not always, distinguishable.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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.)
1. Scapes densely hispid with dark trichomes; capsules with dark brown trichomes. | subsp. polare |
1. Scapes hispid with light-colored trichomes (sometimes dark brown in subsp. alaskanum); capsules with light to dark brown trichomes. | → 2 |
2. Flowers 2 cm diam. or less; capsules ellipsoid-subglobose to oblong-obconic; Rocky Mountain system from Alaska and Yukon southward. | subsp. kluanense |
2. Flowers mostly greater than 2 cm diam.; capsules broadly obovoid to ellipsoid; Aleutian Islands n, e across arctic Alaska and Canada to Greenland. | → 3 |
3. Capsule trichomes generally with abruptly thickened bases; Aleutian Islands, islands of the Bering Strait and w coast of Alaska. | subsp. alaskanum |
3. Capsule trichomes generally without thickened bases; w, n Alaska e to Canada and Greenland. | subsp. radicatum |
- Local floras:
BC, 
CA, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos,
Flora NW, 
PNW Herbaria 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
