Flora of North America species comparison

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Papaver rhoeas

amapola, common poppy, coquelicot, corn poppy, field poppy, flanders poppy
Habit Plants to 8 dm, hispid to setulose.
Stems

simple or usually branching.
Leaves

to 15 cm;

distal often somewhat clustered.
Inflorescences

peduncle sparsely to moderately spreading-hispid throughout.
Flowers

petals white, pink, orange, or red, often with dark basal spot, to 3.5 cm;

anthers bluish;

stigmas 5-18, disc ± flat.
Capsules

sessile or substipitate, turbinate to subglobose, obscurely ribbed, to 2 cm, less than 2 times longer than broad.

Papaver rhoeas
Phenology Flowering spring–summer.
Habitat Fields, pastures, stream banks, railroads, roadsides, and other disturbed sites
Elevation 0-2000 m (0-6600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; CA; CT; DC; IA; ID; IL; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MT; NC; NH; NJ; NM; NY; OH; OR; PA; RI; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WV; MB; NB; NS; ON; QC; SK; Europe; sw Asia; n Africa [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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.)
Source FNA vol. 3.
Parent taxa Papaveraceae > Papaver > sect. Rhoeadium
Sibling taxa
P. alboroseum, P. argemone, P. californicum, P. dubium, P. gorodkovii, P. hybridum, P. lapponicum, P. macounii, P. mcconnellii, P. nudicaule, P. orientale, P. pygmaeum, P. radicatum, P. somniferum, P. walpolei
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 507. (1753)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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