Flora of North America species comparison

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Papaver

Papaver somniferum

pavot, poppy

common garden poppy, opium poppy
Habit Herbs, annual, biennial, or perennial, scapose or caulescent, from taproots; sap white, orange, or red. Plants to 15 dm, glabrate, glaucous.
Stems

when present leafy.

simple or branching.
Leaves

basal rosulate, petiolate;

cauline alternate, proximal leaves petiolate, distal subsessile or sessile, sometimes clasping (in P. somniferum);

blade unlobed or 1-3x pinnately lobed or parted;

margins entire or toothed, scalloped, or incised.

to 30 cm;

blade sometimes sparsely setose abaxially on midrib;

margins usually shallowly to deeply toothed.
Inflorescences

cymiform, with flowers disposed in 1s, 2s or 3s on long scapes or peduncles;

bracts present;

buds nodding [erect].

peduncle often sparsely setose.
Flowers

sepals 2(-3), distinct;

petals 4(-6);

stamens many;

pistil 3-18[-22]-carpellate;

ovary 1-locular, sometimes incompletely multilocular by placental intrusion;

style absent;

stigmas 3-18[-22], radiating on sessile, ± lobed disc, velvety.

petals white, pink, red, or purple, often with dark or pale basal spot, to 6 cm;

anthers pale yellow;

stigmas 5-18, disc ± flat.
Capsules

erect, 3-18[-22]-pored or short-valved immediately beneath persistent or sometimes deciduous (in P. hybridum) stigmatic disc.

stipitate, subglobose, not ribbed, to 9 cm, glaucous.
Seeds

many, minutely pitted, aril absent.

x

= 7.

Papaver

Papaver somniferum
Phenology Flowering spring–summer.
Habitat Fields, clearings, stream banks, railroads, roadsides, and other disturbed sites
Elevation 0-1300 m [0-4300 ft]
Distribution
map from USDA
Temperate and arctic North America; Eurasia; n Africa; s Africa; Australia
[BONAP county map]
map from FNA
AZ; CA; CT; IL; MA; ME; MI; MN; MO; NC; ND; NH; NJ; NM; NY; OH; OR; PA; TX; UT; VA; VT; AB; BC; MB; NB; NF; NS; ON; QC; SK; Greenland; Europe; Asia [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Species 70-100 (16 in the flora).

Papaver is rich in alkaloids, notably opiates. The genus is quite complex cytologically; in addition to diploids, there are numerous polyploid species and some that apparently are aneuploid. Most commonly, n = 7 or a multiple, and 2n ranges from 14 to over 100. There are published chromosome counts for almost every taxon in the flora, but for the introduced species none has been made from wild-collected North American material.

The scapose poppies in the flora are native; the caulescent ones, except Papaver californicum, are introduced Eurasian ornamentals, crop weeds, and ballast waifs. All the scapose species are confined to arctic and alpine habitats. Plants of the introduced caulescent species, especially P. rhoeas, P. dubium, and P. somniferum, vary greatly in size, and surprisingly diminutive mature individuals are sometimes found, especially northward.

Excluded species:

Papaver dahlianum Nordhagen, Bergens Mus. Årbok 2: 46. 1931

Papaver radicatum Rottbfll subsp. dahlianum (Nordhagen) Rändel

We regard this species as being restricted to arctic Europe, a narrower circumscription than U. Rändel's (1977).

Papaver microcarpum de Candolle, Syst. Nat. 2: 71. 1821

We are so far unable to substantiate D. Löve's (1969) report of this essentially Asiatic species "from Seward and Kenai peninsulas in Alaska, the Aleutian Islands."

Etymology: classical Latin name for poppy; perhaps from Greek papa (pap), alluding to the thick, sometimes milky sap

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Unknown in the wild, Papaver somniferum probably came originally from southeastern Europe and/or southwestern Asia. It has been cultivated for centuries as the source of opium (and its modern derivatives heroin, morphine, and codeine), and also for edible seeds and oil. Various color forms with laciniate and/or doubled petals are grown for ornament. Widely introduced from cultivation and also as a crop weed, it should be expected elsewhere in the flora.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Parent taxa Papaveraceae Papaveraceae > Papaver > sect. Papaver
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. rhoeas, P. walpolei
Subordinate 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. rhoeas, P. somniferum, P. walpolei
Key
1. Plants caulescent (sometimes subscapose), at least a few cauline leaves present.
→ 2
1. Plants strictly scapose, leaves all basal (sect. Meconella).
→ 8
2. Blades of distal leaves clasping stem (sect. Papaver).
P. somniferum
2. Blades of distal leaves not clasping stem.
→ 3
3. Capsules setose (sect. Argemonideum).
→ 4
3. Capsules glabrous.
→ 5
4. Capsules obovoid-ellipsoid to subglobose, densely and firmly setose.
P. hybridum
4. Capsules oblong to clavate, sparsely and weakly setose.
P. argemone
5. Plants perennial; flowers 10 cm or more broad (sect. Macrantha).
P. orientale
5. Plants annual; flowers less than 10 cm broad.
→ 6
6. Peduncles glabrous or sparsely pilose; petals with greenish basal spot; stigmatic disc conic, usually umbonate; capsules distinctly short-valvate (sect. Californicum).
P. californicum
6. Peduncles hispid; petals unspotted or with dark basal spot; stigmatic disc ± flat; capsules poricidal (sect. Rhoeadium).
→ 7
7. Peduncles markedly spreading-hispid distally; capsules less than 2 times longer than broad.
P. rhoeas
7. Peduncles strongly appressed-hispid distally; capsules 2 times or more longer than broad.
P. dubium
8. Leaf blades mostly with 3 primary lobes.
P. walpolei
8. Leaf blades with 5–many primary lobes.
→ 9
9. Capsules more than 4 times longer than broad.
P. macounii
9. Capsules 1–2.5 times longer than broad.
→ 10
10. Trichomes on capsules ivory colored.
→ 11
10. Trichomes on capsules light to dark brown or black.
→ 13
11. Plants tall, seldom less than 2 dm.
P. nudicaule
11. Plants short, seldom more than 1.5 dm.
→ 12
12. Leaf blades setose.
P. alboroseum
12. Leaf blades glabrous or sparsely hirsute.
P. pygmaeum
13. Leaf blades mostly with 5 primary lobes, lobes mostly simple.
→ 14
13. Leaf blades with more than 5 primary lobes, lobes mostly divided.
→ 15
14. Primary leaf lobes oblanceolate to strap-shaped.
P. gorodkovii
14. Primary leaf lobes broadly lanceolate to ovate.
P. radicatum
15. Scapes straight, erect, generally longer than 20 cm; capsules oblong-ellipsoid.
P. lapponicum
15. Scapes curved, erect or decumbent, less than 15 cm, capsules obconic to subglobose.
→ 16
16. Leaf blades generally green, not glaucous, primary lobes lanceolate, their apices acute to obtuse.
P. radicatum
16. Leaf blades generally gray- and blue-green, glaucous, primary lobes obovate to strap-shaped, their apices rounded.
P. mcconnellii
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 506. 175: Gen. Pl. ed. 5, 224. (1754) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 508. (1753)
Source FNA vol. 3. FNA vol. 3.
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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