POPPY FAMILY (Papaveraceae)
ROSE PRICKLY POPPY
Annuals or perennials with colored juice; sepals 2-3; petals 4-6, rarely more or wanting; stamens numerous; carpels 2 or more united; capsules opening by valves or pores.
Rose Prickly Poppy (Argemone rosea) is one of the loveliest flowers of South Texas. It is very abundant along the Rio Grande, extending into Mexico and northward almost to San Antonio. The large flowers vary in color from pale pink to rose and purple-rose and are more cup-shaped than the white-flowered species. It has gray-green leaves conspicuously blotched with white along the midribs, the slightly wavy margins being armed with sharp spines. Like other prickly poppies, the flowers have 6 petals, the 3 outer a little different in shape from the 3 inner, and an orange-colored sap. Long considered a variety of the western prickly poppy (Argemone platyceras), which has very spiny leaves and stems and white flowers, it may readily be separated because of its seed-pods, which are about 2 in. long and decidedly broader above the middle.
Argemone is from the Greek meaning an eye disease, supposedly cured by the plant. The opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) has been widely planted in gardens, and has escaped in places in the state.
ROUGH-STEMMED PRICKLY POPPY
Rough-Stemmed or White Prickly Poppy (Argemone hispida) is a bushy, leafy-stemmed plant growing about 2-3 ft. high. It is distinguished from several other very abundant white-flowered poppies by the fact that it has rough hairs as well as spines on the stem. The flowers as a rule are larger, often being 4-6 inches broad. The unusual sepals of the prickly poppies should be noted, as they sometimes cause the flower buds to be confused with the fruits. There are usually 3 sepals, which are horned or hooded, armed with spines, and snugly overlapping each other by a narrow margin. In the rough-stemmed prickly poppy the horns are large and triangular in shape. It ranges from Texas to Kansas and California.
Texas Prickly Poppy (Argemone delicatula) is not so branched or leafy and has flowers somewhat smaller, 2½-3 in. broad. The stigmas are purple instead of red, and the capsules are less than an inch long. This poppy grows in dry soil in Central Texas. The prickly poppies bloom most profusely in April, but scattered blooms appear throughout the summer and fall.
YELLOW PRICKLY POPPY
Yellow Prickly Poppy. Mexican Poppy (Argemone mexicana) is a common weed in tropical America, extending into Southwest Texas in the vicinity of Laredo and Del Rio, and has been introduced into many other countries. It is also called bird-in-the-bush, devil’s fig, flowering or Jamaica thistle, and Mexican thorn poppy. It has smaller flowers than the white and rose prickly poppies. It blooms in Texas in March and April and throughout the summer if the stems are cut. For cut flowers, the stems should be burned immediately upon gathering; otherwise the flowers soon wither.
The seeds of the Mexican poppy are valued for the painter’s oil obtained from them. The oil from the seeds is also said to act as a mild cathartic, the plant otherwise possessing emetic, anodyne, and narcotic properties.