Poppies - a family of dicotyledonous plants from the order Rhizofotsvetnye, which gave mankind the infamous opium poppy and at the same time many decorative garden flowers. The article provides a general botanical description of plants.
Characteristics of the poppy family
The family is very diverse. Includes about 700 species, combined in 45 genera. Mostly these are herbs, less often shrubs and shrubs, with the exception of small trees with strongly dissected or whole leaves without stipules. The geography of distribution is impressive, but the bulk of the representatives grows in the northern and temperate latitudes. The largest number of species (over 300) belongs to the genus Corydalis.
Poppy family: general characteristic of a flower
Representatives of the poppy family are characterized by bisexual flowers located singly or collected in inflorescences of various types, to one degree or another cyclic, zygomorphic or regular. They have a double perianth, a couple of early falling sepals and, as a rule, 4 petals, rarely more. For poppies, the presence of many stamens, stigmas or columns of a sedentary species, the upper ovary is characteristic. The fruit is a pod or capsule, it contains small seeds with an endosperm and an embryo, it has lacterans, but still they are not present in all species. Without exception, all plants contain alkaloids.
The Poppy family, in a variety of flowers, largely resembles Buttercups. Both there and there are actinomorphic and zygomorphic forms that are completely different from each other.
Subfamilies
The Poppy family is divided into two subfamilies. The main criterion for the classification of childbirth is the structure of the flower. So, for example, celandine, poppy have the correct form and belong to the subfamily Actually poppies, and representatives with a zygomorphic one belong to the Dymyankovs. Let us dwell on the second in more detail. The largest family of Dymyankovs - Corydalis - includes about 300 species. All of them grow in the temperate climate of Eurasia and North America. Many of them are geophytes with tubers (mainly of root origin) and ephemeroids. In particular, common crested common to all. A plant with large brushes of purple-pink flowers, which are especially loved by bumblebees. They are sharply zygomorphic in shape. The reason for this is the petal of the outer circle, elongated into a spur. But if you compare the diagrams of Corydalis and Aconite, then you can notice completely different types of zygomorphy - in the first it is transverse. Similar features have only poppy flowers.
Controversial taxonomy
To begin with, it should be noted that now two types of taxonomy of flowering plants are most popular: the APG II system (published in 2003) and the Kronquist classification developed by the American botanist. The second is used more widely both in its original form, and with modern adaptations. According to the APG II system, plants of the poppy family belong to the order of Ranuniformes. It is this data that can often be found on Internet resources. However, according to the traditional classification, they have their own order - Macrocats.
Botanists acknowledge that the systematic position of the family is indeed ambiguous. Obviously, the Poppies and the Buttercups (in the photo below, the Buttercup is large) have common ancestors. In this regard, some births from America are very interesting. They possess the characteristics of the Lyutikov flower and at the same time have lactarias, which are unusual for them and are a sign that the poppy family has.
Its representatives are well-known, mainly in horticultural culture. However, the most famous, of course, is the opium poppy. In fairness, it is worth adding that he is notorious.
Opium poppy
Currently, it is common only in culture. Extracted, as a rule, from immature capsules, milky juice is rich in alkaloids that are valued from a medical point of view: narcotine, morphine, codeine, etc. Opium smoking has long been common in Asian countries, especially in China, where it was widespread. As a result, the plant became not only useful, but also dangerous. The cultivation of poppy (opium and other species containing narcotic compounds) in Russia has been prohibited since 2004 as part of the fight against drug addiction.
Other members of the family
Speaking about the Poppy family, one cannot but mention that it includes a lot of species that are valuable medicinal and ornamental garden plants.
- Rod Celandine. Currently includes only two species: Asian and large. Both plants have pronounced medicinal properties known to mankind since time immemorial. The name “warthog” is popular among the people because of the ability of the juice to treat skin diseases and remove warts.
- Rod Corydalis. Includes many species, mainly perennials. A characteristic feature is the tuberoid thickenings of the root, large racemose inflorescences. Representatives of the genus are not only valuable medicinal plants, but also honey plants. Derived decorative forms and varieties.
- The genus Eshsholtzia is a small genus of plants from North America that includes about 10 species. Its representatives are best known as ornamental plants, cultivated as annuals.
- The genus of Argemon. Medicinal properties of plants were known to the Aztecs. Nowadays, the genus is valued for its high decorativeness and is actively used in gardening and indoor floriculture.
- The genus Sanguinaria includes only one species. The natural habitat of the plant is forests in eastern North America. All its parts contain very toxic alkaloids. Sanguinaria canadian is used in pharmaceuticals and traditional medicine.