Taxonomy of Flowering Plants - LECTURE NOTES - Spring, 1998
Hugh D. Wilson - rm. 306, Butler Hall
11 February 1998
The Magnoliidae
Family Overview - The Papaverales

Papaveraceae - the Poppy Family

Diversity:  25 genera and about 200 species as treated by Cronquist but some (see Thorne treatment - Magnolianae) place within the circumscription of this family taxa treated by Cronquist as the Fumariaceae.  This broader circumscription (sensu lato or 's.l.') increases included taxa to 42 genera and ca. 660 species.  We follow Cronquist here, keeping taxa of the Fumariaceae as a distinct family, and view the Papaveraceae in the strict sense (sensu stricto or 's.s.')

Distribution:  Temperate northern hemisphere, both Old World and New with - 4 genera with 12 species in Texas.

Floral structure:

flower often large and showy with crumpled petals, ovary a unilocular compound pistil

Significant features:  syncarpous herbs with, caducous (early falling, often at anthesis) sepals, leaf blades often basal (some taxa scapose) and pinnately divided.  Most elements of the family express a milky or colored latex derived from specialized cells (laticifers).

Papaver nudicaule - flower at anthesis with compound pistil show stigmatic crests

Papaver somniferum - mature poricidal capsule with stigmatic crests elevated

  Argemone polyanthemos at anthesis





 

Argemone polyanthemos past anthesis with red stigmas and maturing, compound (multicarpellate) pistil
 
 
 

More information on the Papaveraceae

Return to Lecture Notes, the Botany 201 homepage, or the Magnoliidae page