PAPAVERACEAE

POPPY FAMILY

Curtis Clark

Annual to small tree; sap often colored, often milky
Leaves basal, cauline, or both, generally toothed, lobed, or dissected; cauline generally alternate; stipules 0
Inflorescence: cyme, raceme, or panicle (terminal), or flower solitary
Flower bisexual, generally radial; sepals 2–4, sometimes shed ± at flower; petals generally 4 or 6 (or more), sometimes in 2 unlike pairs; stamens 4–many; ovary generally 1, superior, chamber generally 1, stigma lobes 0–many, ovules 1–many
Fruit: generally capsule, dehiscent by valves or pores, generally septicidal
Genera in family: 40 genera, 400 sp.: n temp, n tropical, s Africa; some cultivated (Papaver, Dicentra, Eschscholzia ). Petal length includes any spur or pouch. Hunnemannia fumariifolia Sweet (Eschscholzia-like garden per with free sepals) an uncommon waif in CA. Corydalis, Dicentra, Fumaria formerly treated in Fumariaceae.

MECONELLA

Annual; sap colorless
Leaves basal (or some cauline, opposite), generally entire, glabrous to rough-hairy
Inflorescence: flowers solitary, generally terminal and axillary
Flower: sepals (2)3; petals (4 or) 6, free, obovate to oblong, white or yellow, shed after pollination; stamens 4–6, 8–16, or many, free; placentas 3, style 0, stigma lobes 3, ± erect, ovate
Fruit linear or obovate, dehiscent from tip
Seeds many, 0.5–1 mm, ovate to reniform, smooth, shiny, brown or black
Species in genus: 4 species: w North America
Etymology: (Greek & Latin: little poppy)

Native

M. californica Torr.

Plant 10–20 cm, glabrous
Leaves basal and cauline, 5–25 mm, linear to oblanceolate
Flower: petals 5–10 mm, white; stamens 8–16, in 2 series
Fruit 15–35 mm, linear, twisted
Seed 0.6 mm, obovate
Ecology: Open, rocky areas
Elevation: < 1000 m.
Bioregional distribution: Cascade Range Foothills, Sierra Nevada Foothills, n Central Coast, San Francisco Bay Area
Horticultural information: SUN, DRN, DRY: 7, 9, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24.