Papaver hybridum L.
prickly-headed poppy
Annual herb; rosette tufted; stems decumbent to ascending, hispid, (2)-10-20-(60) cm tall. Lvs ± glaucous, (2)-6-10-(15) × (1)-3-6 cm, the lower long-petiolate, the upper subsessile. Lamina broadly ovate to triangular, cuneate at base, usually deeply 2-3-pinnatisect, covered with inconspicuous short stiff hairs and/or longer hairs especially on midrib beneath. Pedicels 5-15-(20) cm long, with appressed hairs. Sepals densely hispid, 5-10 × 3-10 mm. Petals red, 1-2.5 × 1-2.5 cm, with dark blotch at base. Capsule ellipsoid, widest near 1/2 way, ribbed, (4)-10-15 × (2)-5-8 mm, covered with dense, pale, spreading, stiff, bristly hairs. Stigmatic disc c. 1/2 width of capsule, conic; rays 4-8.
N.: Auckland, Waikato, Wellington; S.: Marlborough, Canterbury.
Europe, S.W. Asia 1904
Railway ballast, waste land, occasionally as a weed of cultivation.
