Papaver radicatum
Papaver rhoeas
arctic poppy, iceland poppy, Macoun's poppy, root poppy
amapola, common poppy, coquelicot, corn poppy, field poppy, flanders poppy
simple or usually 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 15 cm;
distal often somewhat clustered.
scapes erect or bowed and decumbent, less than 15 cm, sparsely to densely hispid.
peduncle sparsely to moderately spreading-hispid throughout.
to 6.5 cm diam.;
petals yellow or white, rarely pink tinged, or brick red;
anthers yellow;
stigmas 4-7, disc convex.
petals white, pink, orange, or red, often with dark basal spot, to 3.5 cm;
anthers bluish;
stigmas 5-18, disc ± flat.
obovoid to subglobose, 1-2.5 times longer than broad, strigose, trichomes light to dark brown or black.
sessile or substipitate, turbinate to subglobose, obscurely ribbed, to 2 cm, less than 2 times longer than broad.
Papaver radicatum
Papaver rhoeas
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.)
J. W. Kadereit (1990) suggested that Papaver rhoeas originated on the east coast of the Mediterranean, probably derived from one or more of the other species of the section that are native in that region, and only after (and because) "suitable habitats in sufficient extent were provided by man." Various forms with pale pink or white, unspotted, sometimes doubled petals are grown for ornament, notably the Shirley poppies. In North America, the species escapes from cultivation fairly readily and has been introduced also as a crop weed.
(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, 
Go Botany, 
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LA Plants, 
MD Biodiversity, 
MI Flora, 
MN Wildflowers, 
MO Plants, 
PNW Herbaria 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
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