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Papaveraceae /pəpeɪvəˈreɪsiː/, 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. Most are herbaceous plants, but a few are shrubs and small trees.

Description

Mexican Prickly Poppy - flower

The plants may be annual, biennial, or perennial. Usually herbaceous, a few species form shrubs or evergreen trees. They are lactiferous, producing latex, which may be milky or watery, coloured or plain. All parts contain a well-developed duct system (these ducts are called "laticifers"), producing a milky latex, a watery white, yellow or red juice.

Corn Poppy (Papaver rhoeas)- flower

The simple leaves are alternate or sometimes whorled. They have petioles and are not enclosed by a sheath. The leaves are usually lobed or pinnatifid (i.e. consisting of several not entirely separate leaflets), or much-divided. There are no stipules.

The plants are hermaphroditic and are pollinated mostly by insects (even as flower nectaries are lacking; entomophilous), a few by the wind (anemophilous). There is a distinct calyx and corolla, except in Macleaya where the corolla is lacking. The flowers are medium-sized or large and they look spectacular. The terminal flowers solitary in most species. In others the terminal inflorescence is cymose or racemose. The flowers are odourless and regular.

California poppy

There are many stamens, mostly 16 to 60, arranged in two separate whorls, the outer one with stamens alternate with the petals, the inner one opposite. The gynoecium consists of a compound pistil with 2 to 100 carpels. The ovary is superior and 1-locular. The ovary is without a footstalk (sessile) or on a short stem (stipitate).

The non-fleshy fruit is usually a capsule, breaking open at maturity to release the seeds through pores (poricidal), or through the partitions between the cells (septicidal), or by means of valves (valvular). The numerous seeds are small. Their nutritive tissue (endosperm) is oily and farinose. The fruit of Platystemon is a schizocarp.

Almost all of these plants contain alkaloids. Many are poisonous. The Mexican Prickly Poppy (pictured above) is poisonous if taken internally and may cause edema and glaucoma. Even if an animal, such as a goat, should persist in grazing on this plant, not only will the animal suffer but so will those who drink its milk, because the poisons are passed along in the milk.

Taxonomy

The APG II system (2003; unchanged from the APG system of 1998) places the family in the order Ranunculales, in the clade eudicots. However, APG does provide for the option to segregate two families, as optional segregate. Thus, there are two possible circumscriptions:

• Papaveraceae sensu lato, including the plants that would otherwise form the families Fumariaceae and Pteridophyllaceae. (see subfamilies)
• Papaveraceae sensu stricto, excluding these plants.

The family sensu stricto conforms to the family as recognised by the Cronquist system, of 1981 (Cronquist recognised Fumariaceae as separate). This comprises about 26 genera and about 250 species. The description given above applies to the family in this narrow sense.

Genera in Papaveraceae sensu stricto

Tree Poppy (Bocconia frutescens)

Mexican Prickly Poppy - fruit

The single genus transferred when Pteridophyllaceae is included in Papaveraceae is :

• Pteridophyllum

The 20 genera transferred when Fumariaceae is included in Papaveraceae are :

Subfamilies

For discussions of subfamilies, see Carolan et al. (2006) and Blattner and Kadereit (1999): Eschscholzioideae, Papaveroideae (including Platystemonoideae), and Chelidonioideae.

The two taxa considered subfamilies that have also been considered as separate families are the Fumariaceae (Bercht. & J. Presl, 1820) and the Pteridophyllaceae (Murb., 1912) Nakai ex Reveal & Hoogland, 1991.

Cultivation

The family is well loved for the striking flowers, with many species grown as ornamental plants, including California poppy (Eschscholtzia californica, the California state flower), the stunning blue Himalayan poppies (Meconopsis), several species of Papaver, and the wildflower Bloodroot. The family also contains the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum), which is the source of opium and opiates, as well as poppy seeds used in cooking and baking, and poppyseed oil.

Symbolism

The opium poppy and corn poppy are symbols, respectively, of sleep and death. In Great Britain, Canada, the United States, and Australia the corn poppy is worn in remembrance of World War I.

References