Papaver rupifragum var. atlanticum
Atlas poppy ( Papaver atlanticum )
The Atlas poppy ( Papaver atlanticum ) is a plant from the family of Poppy Family ( Papaveraceae ). The home of this type lies in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. As a hardy ornamental plant it is, however, now planted in gardens worldwide.
Description
The perennial, herbaceous plant reaches stature heights of 15 to 60 centimeters. From the basal rosette of leaves grow more erect or ascending, rarely branched stems, at the end of which each form a flower. The stems and leaves are downy, hairy silvery. The undergraduate, to 15 cm long leaves are elliptic to oblong- lanceolate shaped, sawn or pinnatisect. For pedunculated base it is narrowing.
In the leaf axils or at the end of the stem sprout long leafless, hairy flower stems. They carry nodding or almost upright flowers. The hermaphroditic, flowers are fourfold radial symmetry and have a diameter from 5 to 5.5 cm. The two sepals fall off when you open the flower bud. The four orange, inverted egg-shaped petals overlap and have a length of about 2.5 centimeters. The flower contains numerous stamens with yellow anthers. The flowering period is May to July.
The club-shaped hairless capsule fruit is about 25 mm long and has a hub cap. This is approximately the same diameter as the capsule and is five to achtstrahlig. The numerous small, kidney-shaped seeds are reticulate patterned and about a millimeter in size. Through small slits between the cover and the seeds escaping capsule when the capsule varies in the wind.
Other properties
The entire plant is poisonous; in particular, the capsule contains a lot of toxic alkaloids. Due to the close relationship to hairy poppy ( Papaver pilosum ) must be assumed that it contains isoquinoline alkaloids from Glaucine type. For the production of drugs and in particular for the production of opium, it has no meaning.
The chromosome number is given as 2n = 14.
Occurrence
The Atlas poppy is native only in Morocco. There are references in the Atlas Mountains. He prefers sunny areas with permeable soils. Meanwhile, there is this kind in Germany as a neophyte with findings in Baden- Württemberg ( Kressbronn ) and Nordrhein-Westfalen (Cologne)
Varieties of this species are increasingly being used as an ornamental plant in gardens and traded in the Western world as the seed. However, this seed comes mainly from a " Doppelblütigen " form. There it can be easily propagated by self- seeding and has now found its way from the gardens, as first findings show.
Sources and further information
The article is mainly based on the following documents: