Flora of North America species comparison

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Papaveraceae

poppy family
Habit Herbs or subshrubs, shrubs, or small trees, annual, biennial, or perennial, scapose or caulescent, usually from taproots, sometimes from rhizomes; sap clear, white, or colored, often sticky.
Stems

leafy or naked, erect, spreading, or decumbent, simple or branching.
Leaves

basal and/or cauline, alternate to opposite or whorled, simple, without stipules, petiolate or sessile;

blade unlobed or with 1-3 odd-pinnate, subpalmate, or palmate orders of lobes.
Inflorescences

axillary or terminal, unifloral or else multifloral and cymiform, racemose, umbelliform, corybiform, or paniculate, pedunculate or subsessile;

bracts usually present.
Flowers

radially symmetric, pedicellate or sessile;

receptacle sometimes expanded and forming cup or ring beneath calyx (only in Eschscholzia, Meconella, and Platystemon);

perianth and androecium sometimes perigynous;

sepals caducous, 2 or 3, distinct or connate, usually obovate;

petals distinct, usually obovate, mostly 2 times number of sepals, sometimes more or absent;

stamens many or 4-15 (only in Meconella and Canbya);

anthers 2-locular;

pistil 1, 2-18[-22]-carpellate;

ovary 1-2-locular or incompletely to completely multilocular by placental intrusion;

placentas 2 or more, parietal;

style 1 or absent;

stigmas or stigma lobes 2-many.
Fruits

capsular, dehiscence valvate, poricidal, or transverse, or carpels dissociating and breaking transversely into 1-seeded segments (only in Platystemon).
Seeds

usually many, small, sometimes arillate or carunculate.

Papaveraceae
Distribution
Worldwide; mainly Northern Hemisphere
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Genera 25-30 (17 genera, 63 species in the flora).

According to W. R. Ernst (1962b), Papaveraceae "may be divided conveniently into four subfamilies." His scheme is followed here, but with the subfamilies taken up in alphabetic order; they seem to be natural groups, but their phylogenetic interrelationships are not yet clear. Similarly, the evolutionary relationships within the subfamilies remain ambiguous, and the genera in each are listed alphabetically. Subfamily Chelidonioideae Ernst includes genera 1-5; subf. Eschscholzioideae Ernst, genera 6-7; subf. Papavaroideae Ernst, genera 8-14; and subf. Platostamenoideae Ernst, genera 15-17.

Hunnemannia fumariifolia Sweet, native to the highlands of Mexico, is occasionally found in California as a garden escape. A glabrous perennial with glaucous, blue-gray stem and leaves, and glossy, yellow petals, it bears an overall resemblance to Eschscholzia but has distinct sepals, no receptacular cup, and a peltate stigma. Below, it would key out as Arctomecon.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Leaves opposite or whorled.
→ 2
1. Leaves alternate or subopposite (sometimes only 1 in Sanguinaria).
→ 4
2. Plants glabrous or glabrate; blades of proximal leaves linear-spatulate; stamens 4-12; capsules linear.
Meconella
2. Plants usually distinctly pubescent; blades of proximal leaves broadly linear; stamens 12 or more; capsules not linear.
→ 3
3. Stems branching distally; stigmas and carpels 6 or more, carpels dissociating and breaking transversely into 1-seeded segments.
Platystemon
3. Stems branching from base; stigmas and carpels 3, carpels not dissociating, not breaking into transverse segments, capsules valvate.
Hesperomecon
4. Plants subshrubby or shrubby.
→ 5
4. Plants herbaceous.
→ 7
5. Leaf blades and capsules harshly prickly.
Argemone
5. Leaf blades and capsules not harshly prickly, sometimes bristly.
→ 6
6. Leaf blades lobed; petals white.
Romneya
6. Leaf blades unlobed; petals yellow.
Dendromecon
7. Sepals connate, calyptrate; evident receptacular cup beneath calyx.
Eschscholzia
7. Sepals distinct, not calyptrate; receptacular cup absent or obscure.
→ 8
8. Inflorescences paniculate; petals absent.
Macleaya
8. Inflorescences not paniculate; petals present.
→ 9
9. Inflorescences umbelliform.
→ 10
9. Inflorescences not umbelliform.
→ 11
10. Stigma lobes 2; capsule 2-valved, dehiscing from base, glabrous.
Chelidonium
10. Stigma lobes 3-4(-5); capsule (3-)4-valved, dehiscing from apex, pubescent.
Stylophorum
11. Leaf blades and capsules harshly prickly.
Argemone
11. Leaf blades and capsules not harshly prickly.
→ 12
12. Stigmas radiating on sessile disc.
Papaver
12. Stigmatic disc absent.
→ 13
13. Style absent or indistinct.
→ 14
13. Style present.
→ 17
14. Sap clear; leaf blades unlobed or lobed only distally; petals 5-7.
→ 15
14. Sap yellow; leaf blades lobed throughout; petals 4.
→ 16
15. Leaf blades glabrous; inflorescences 1-flowered; stamens 6-15.
Canbya
15. Leaf blades long-pilose; inflorescences 3-20-flowered; stamens many.
Arctomecon
16. Petals yellow to reddish orange; filaments yellow.
Glaucium
16. Petals bright red; filaments dark violet or black.
Roemeria
17. Leaf blades palmately lobed throughout.
Sanguinaria
17. Leaf blades pinnately lobed throughout or lobed only distally.
→ 18
18. Leaf blades pinnately lobed throughout; petals orange-red, spotted purple at base, caducous.
Stylomecon
18. Leaf blades lobed only distally; petals white or yellow, unspotted, persistent.
Arctomecon
Source FNA vol. 3, p. 300.
Parent taxa
Subordinate taxa
Arctomecon, Argemone, Canbya, Chelidonium, Dendromecon, Eschscholzia, Glaucium, Hesperomecon, Macleaya, Meconella, Papaver, Platystemon, Roemeria, Romneya, Sanguinaria, Stylomecon, Stylophorum
Name authority A. L. Jussieu
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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