Prickly Poppy

(Argemone mexicana)

 

   

Color Drawing: 1787 - 1800. Curtis Botanical Magazine. National Agriculural Library.

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

 

Prickly Poppy (Argemone mexicana L.)

Alien: Native of the American tropics.

Identification: Flower yellow to orange, larger (over 2 inches in diameter), with 4 to 6 petals. Seed pods oval, bristly. Stem bristly. Leaves dissected with sharp prickles on the ends of the lobes.

Distribution: Iowa in the west to New England in the east, southward to Florida and Texas.

Habitat: Prickly Poppy is a weed and is found in vacant lots, roadsides, and other recently disturbed habitats.

Flowering period: May to September.

Similar Species: The prickly leaves and stems in combination with the large yellow to orange flowers are distinctive.

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