Papaver radicatum
Papaver radicatum subsp. alaskanum
arctic poppy, iceland poppy, Macoun's poppy, root poppy
root poppy
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 10 cm;
petiole to 3/4 length of leaf;
blade green on both surfaces, lanceolate, with 2-4 pairs of primary lateral lobes;
primary lobes lanceolate to obovate, apex acute to rounded.
scapes erect or bowed and decumbent, less than 15 cm, sparsely to densely hispid.
scapes curved or straight, sparingly to densely hispid, trichomes appressed-ascending to spreading, light to dark brown.
to 6.5 cm diam.;
petals yellow or white, rarely pink tinged, or brick red;
anthers yellow;
stigmas 4-7, disc convex.
to 6.5 cm diam.;
petals yellow, occasionally pink tinged (w Aleutians).
obovoid to subglobose, 1-2.5 times longer than broad, strigose, trichomes light to dark brown or black.
subglobose to obovoid-obconic, to 1.5 cm, strigose, trichomes light to dark brown, base abruptly expanded.
chromosome number (2n = 42) attributed to G.
(1959) by U.
ändel (1977) cannot be confirmed.
Papaver radicatum
Papaver radicatum subsp. alaskanum
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 the flora area, Papaver radicatum subsp. alaskanum is known from Kodiak Island, the Kenai Peninsula, the islands of the Bering Sea, the Aleutian Islands, the coastal Alaska Peninsula and Bristol Bay region, and disjunct northward in Alaska to the Chukchi Sea.
We distinguish these coastal plants from the ones at high elevations in the interior of Alaska and Yukon that also have numerous persistent leaf bases and have been named Papaver alaskanum by others (cf. E. Hultén 1968; S. L. Welsh 1974) but otherwise have the features of P. radicatum subsp. radicatum or subsp. kluanense. Specimens of P. radicatum subsp. alaskanum with short, broad capsules and light-colored trichomes approach, in these respects, the Asiatic P. microcarpum, a similarity that Tolmatchew has already indicated with his combination P. microcarpum subsp. alaskanum.
(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
