Weed Information: Argemone mexicana
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Argemone mexicana

Common Names: mexican poppy, mexican pricklypoppy

Description

The leaves clasp the stem at the base. They are waxy and hairless but spiny margined. The flowers are pale to bright yellow and the plant exudes a bright yellow sap.

Characteristics

Flower Color
  • Yellow
Inflorescence Type (How the flowers are arranged on the plant)
  • Corymb
  • Cyme (simple or branched)
Number of Petals
  • 4 petals
  • 5 petals
  • 6 petals
Petal Separation
  • Completely free to base
Petal Tip
  • Bilobed
  • Rounded
  • Square
Flower Symmetry
  • Flowers regular
Flower Length (Head length in the Asteraceae)
  • 3.0 cm (1.2 inches)
  • 3.5 cm (1.4 inches)
  • 4.0 cm (1.6 inches)
  • 4.5 cm (1.8 inches)
  • 5.0 cm (2.0 inches) or more
Flower Width (Head width in the Asteraceae)
  • > 5.0 cm (> 2.0 inches)
Number of Sepals
  • 2 sepals
  • 3 sepals
Sepal Separation
  • Completely free to base
Sepal Tip
  • Pointed
  • Rounded
Flower Sex
  • Bisexual (perfect)
Number of Styles
  • 1 style
Number of Stamens
  • more than 10 stamens
Stamens Attached to the Petals
  • Stamens NOT attached to the petals
Stamens Connate (united)
  • Filaments or anthers NOT united

Carpel Separation
  • Carpels united (or one)
Number of Carpels
  • 3 carpels
  • 4 carpels
  • 5 carpels
  • 6 - 9 carpels
Ovary Position
  • Superior (hypogynous)
Fruit Type
  • Capsule, 3-celled
  • Capsule, > 3-celled
Fruit Length at Maturity
  • 2.0 cm (.80 inch)
  • 2.5 cm (1.0 inch)
  • 3.0 cm (1.2 inches)
  • 3.5 cm (1.4 inches)
  • 4.0 cm (1.6 inches)
  • 4.5 cm (1.8 inches)
Fruit Width at Maturity
  • 1.0 cm (.40 inch)
  • 1.5 cm (.60 inch)
  • 2.0 cm (.80 inch)
  • 2.5 cm (1.0 inch)
  • 3.0 cm (1.2 inches)
Burs
  • Fruit or seed NOT bur-like
  • Fruit or seed bur-like

Leaf Arrangement
  • Alternate
Leaf Type
  • Simple (including lobed leaves)
Stipules
  • Lacking
Tendrils
  • Tendrils absent
Venation
  • Pinnate
Petiole (leaf stem) Blade Ratio
  • Petiole absent (leaf sessile)
  • Petiole < 25% total length
Leaf Length (blade PLUS petiole)
  • 4 - 10 cm (1.60 - 4.0 inches)
  • 1 - 2 dm (4.0 - 8.0 inches)
Leaf Width
  • 2 - 4 cm (.80 - 1.6 inches)
  • 4 - 10 cm (1.6 - 4.0 inches)
Leaf Shape (simple leaves only)
  • Lanceolate
  • Obovate
  • Pinnately lobed
Leaf or Leaflet Margin
  • Dentate
  • Lobed
  • Undulate (sinuate, repand)
Leaf or Leaflet Blade Base
  • Clasping
Leaf or Leaflet Tip
  • Acuminate (attenuate)
  • Acute
  • Aristate
Leaf or Leaflet Blade Surface
  • Glabrous (NO hairs)
  • Glaucous
Succulence
  • Not succulent

Milky Juice
  • Juice milky
Woodiness
  • Herbaceous
Spines or Thorns
  • Spines on leaves or stems
  • Spines on flowers\fruits AND leaves\stems
Aromatic (vegetative structures)
  • Not aromatic
Life Cycle
  • Annual
Growth Habit (while flowering)
  • Erect, columnar (narrow)
  • Erect, spherical (bushy)
Plant Height at Maturity
  • 2 - 4 dm (8.0 - 16.0 inches)
  • 4 - 6 dm (1.3 - 2.0 feet)
  • 6 - 8 dm (2.0 - 2.6 feet)
  • 8 - 10 dm (2.6 - 3.3 feet)
Wind Dissemination
  • Not wind disseminated
Moisture Regime
  • Mesic
  • Arid
Chlorophyll
  • Present

Stem Cross Section
  • Round
Flowering Stem Leaves
  • Stem uniformly leafy
Main Stem Branches
  • Main stem unbranched
  • Main stem branched

Root or Vegetative Propagule
  • Tap Root

US State
  • Alabama
  • Arkansas
  • Connecticut
  • Delaware
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Illinois
  • Kansas
  • Louisiana
  • Massachusetts
  • Michigan
  • Missouri
  • Mississippi
  • North Carolina
  • New Jersey
  • New York
  • Ohio
  • Pennsylvania
  • South Carolina
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Virginia
  • Wisconsin
  • Hawaii
  • Indiana
  • Maryland
  • Vermont
  • Iowa
  • Nebraska
Canadian Province or Territory
  • British Columbia
  • Ontario
  • Manitoba
Other
  • Puerto Rico
  • Virgin Islands
  • District of Columbia

  • How to Know the Weeds, 1972, (ISBN# 0-697-04880-2) See page: 80
  • More Turfgrass and Related Weeds: Beyond the Color Atlas, 2011 Clemson University Publishing ISBN# 978-0-9798777-5-9 See Page: 301-302
  • S.W.S.S. Weed ID Guide, 1993 Section Number and Five letter code: 11 ARGME
  • Weeds, 1955 (1980) Walter Conrad Muenscher, ISBN# 0-8014-1266-8 See page: 226
  • Weeds, A Golden Guide, 1972 ISBN#0-307-24353-2 See page: 58
  • Weeds of the South, University of Georgia 2009, ISBN#0-8203-3046-9 See page: 246
  • Listed as a `Weed` by the Biota of North America Program, 2008 X
  • Listed in the WSSA Composite List of Weeds X
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