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Argemone mexicana
‘Mexican Prickly Poppy’ is a species of poppy found in Mexico and now widely naturalized in many parts of the world.
Thicket. Countryside.
‘Argemone mexicana’ is an annual herb, growing up to 150 cm with a slightly branched tap root. Its stem is branched and usually extremely prickly. It exudes a yellow juice when cut. It has showy yellow flowers. Leaves are thistle-like and alternate, without leaf stalks (petioles), toothed (serrate) and the margins are spiny. The grey-white veins stand out against the bluish-green upper leaf surface. The stem is oblong in cross-section. Flowers are at the tips of the branches (are terminal) and solitary, yellow and of 2.5-5 cm diameter. Fruit is a prickly oblong or egg-shaped (ovoid) capsule. Seeds are very numerous, nearly spherical, covered in a fine network of veins, brownish black and about 1 mm in diameter. This species reproduces by seed. Most seeds fall around the parent plant but some are dispersed by water, mud adhering to boots and farming machinery and livestock. The seeds can also be dispersed by birds.
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