Papaver setigerum
Encyclopedia
Papaver setigerum, common name Poppy of Troy or Dwarf Breadseed Poppy, is a herbaceous
annual
plant belonging to the Papaveraceae
family.
This plant is closely related to and sometimes treated as a sub-species of Opium Poppy (Papaver somniferum). In fact it produces a very small amount of morphine alkaloids. However, P. somniferum is diploid (n=11) and P. setigerum is tetraploid (n=22) with twice the number of chromosomes. So it cannot be considered the wild ancestral species of the Opium Poppy.
The flowers at the apex of the stem are hermaphroditic
, actinomorphic ("star shaped", "radial"), 4 to 10 cm in diameter. The corolla forms a cup with four pink-purple petals, with a dark purple blotch at the base. It has several stamen
s with dark filaments holding yellow anthers. Flowering occurs from May through June. The fruits are glabrous capsules 2 to 3 cm long, dehiscent along the holes located under the apical disc. The kidney-shaped seeds are about 1 mm wide.
Herbaceous
A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaves and stems that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. They have no persistent woody stem above ground...
annual
Annual
Annual or yearly is a word often used to describe something that happens once a year. Circannual describes events that take place over the course of one year and repeat year after year."Annual" may be an abbreviation for:*Yearbook*Annual plant...
plant belonging to the Papaveraceae
Papaveraceae
Papaveraceae, informally known as the poppy family, are an economically important family of 44 genera and approximately 770 species of flowering plants in the order Ranunculales. The family is cosmopolitan, occurring in temperate and subtropical climates, but almost unknown in the tropics...
family.
This plant is closely related to and sometimes treated as a sub-species of Opium Poppy (Papaver somniferum). In fact it produces a very small amount of morphine alkaloids. However, P. somniferum is diploid (n=11) and P. setigerum is tetraploid (n=22) with twice the number of chromosomes. So it cannot be considered the wild ancestral species of the Opium Poppy.
Etymology
The genus name is derived from the Latin word papaverum meaning “poppy”, while the specific name setigerum derives the Latin "saetiger" meaning “bristly” for the short bristle on the top of the lobes of its leaves.Description
Papaver setigerum reaches on average 20–80 cm (7.9–31.5 ) in height. The stem is erect and the leaves are simple, oblong, the lower ones are sessile, deeply lobed and toothed, the higher ones shortly pedunculated.The flowers at the apex of the stem are hermaphroditic
Hermaphrodite
In biology, a hermaphrodite is an organism that has reproductive organs normally associated with both male and female sexes.Many taxonomic groups of animals do not have separate sexes. In these groups, hermaphroditism is a normal condition, enabling a form of sexual reproduction in which both...
, actinomorphic ("star shaped", "radial"), 4 to 10 cm in diameter. The corolla forms a cup with four pink-purple petals, with a dark purple blotch at the base. It has several stamen
Stamen
The stamen is the pollen producing reproductive organ of a flower...
s with dark filaments holding yellow anthers. Flowering occurs from May through June. The fruits are glabrous capsules 2 to 3 cm long, dehiscent along the holes located under the apical disc. The kidney-shaped seeds are about 1 mm wide.