Papaver radicatum
Papaver orientale
arctic poppy, iceland poppy, Macoun's poppy, root poppy
oriental poppy
simple or rarely 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 35 cm.
scapes erect or bowed and decumbent, less than 15 cm, sparsely to densely hispid.
peduncle moderately to densely appressed pale hispid;
bracts sometimes 1-4 just beneath flower.
to 6.5 cm diam.;
petals yellow or white, rarely pink tinged, or brick red;
anthers yellow;
stigmas 4-7, disc convex.
petals light orange to orange-red, usually with pale basal spot, sometimes dark-spotted or unspotted, to 6 cm;
anthers violet;
stigmas (8-)11-15, disc flat or shallowly convex.
obovoid to subglobose, 1-2.5 times longer than broad, strigose, trichomes light to dark brown or black.
sessile, subglobose, obscurely ribbed, to 2.5 cm, glaucous.
Papaver radicatum
Papaver orientale
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.)
An alpine species in its native range, Papaver orientale is widely grown for ornament and sometimes persists after spreading from cultivation. It should be expected elsewhere in the flora.
Papaver bracteatum Lindley, which some authors have included in P. orientale, is similar but more robust, with buds erect, sepals subtended by 3-5 sepaloid and 2 foliaceous bracts, flowers to 20 cm diam., deep red petals with dark basal spot, and capsules to 4 cm. It is widely cultivated and may occasionally escape but apparently does not become naturalized.
(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 |
BC
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
MI Flora
