Papaver radicatum
Papaver sect. Meconella
arctic poppy, iceland poppy, Macoun's 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.
blades unlobed or 1-2x-lobed.
scapes erect or bowed and decumbent, less than 15 cm, sparsely to densely hispid.
to 6.5 cm diam.;
petals yellow or white, rarely pink tinged, or brick red;
anthers yellow;
stigmas 4-7, disc convex.
filaments white or yellow, filiform.
obovoid to subglobose, 1-2.5 times longer than broad, strigose, trichomes light to dark brown or black.
obscurely valvate, ribbed, variously pubescent.
Papaver radicatum
Papaver sect. Meconella
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.)
More study is needed for a comprehensive assessment of the North American scapose poppies in circumpolar context. The circumscriptions and interrelationships of the Alaskan and Asiatic members of this section are especially problematic.
Typification of Papaver radicatum Rottbfll also is problematic, and interpretation of its identity has significant consequences in the complex nomenclature of the arctic-alpine poppies. For details and discussion, see G. Knaben (1958); A. Löve (1962b, 1962c); and G. Knaben and N. Hylander (1970).
(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
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USDA Plants Database
