Argemone munita in Flora of North America @ efloras.org

7. Argemone munita Durand & Hilgard, J. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia. ser. 2, 3: 37. 1854.

Plants annual or perennial. Stems 4-16 dm, densely to sparingly prickly. Leaf blades: surfaces copiously prickly on veins and intervein surfaces to sparingly prickly on main veins only; basal lobed ca. 1/2 distance to midrib, lobe apices usually distinctly rounded, marginal teeth usually less than 1 mm; distal usually definitely clasping. Inflorescences: buds oblong to ellipsoid to obovoid, body 12-22 × 10-16 mm, prickly; sepal horns terete, flattened or angular in cross section, (4-)6-8(-10) mm, unarmed to densely prickly. Flowers 5-10(-13) cm broad, not closely subtended by foliaceous bracts; petals white; stamens 150-250; filaments pale yellow; pistil 3-5-carpellate. Capsules ovoid, ellipsoid, or lanceoloid, 35-55 × 9-15(-18) mm (including stigma and excluding prickles), prickly, longest prickles to 10 mm, widely spaced, or shorter, more numerous, and interspersed with still shorter prickles, surface then partially obscured. Seeds 1.8-2.6 mm.

Subspecies 4 (4 in the flora): w North America.

The Kawaiisu used Argemone munita medicinally to treat burns (D. E. Moerman 1986, no varieties specified).

1 Prickles 0–30 per cm² on main stem below capsule; leaf surfaces unarmed or sparingly prickly on veins and intervein areas. (2)

+ Prickles 100–500 per cm² on main stem below capsule; leaf surfaces mostly closely prickly on veins and intervein areas. (3)

2 (1) Prickles 0–10 per cm²; abaxial leaf surface sparingly prickly on main veins, adaxial surface usually unarmed. 7a subsp. robusta

+ Prickles 10–30 per cm²; both leaf surfaces sparingly to moderately prickly on veins and often on intervein areas. 7b subsp. munita

3 (1) Longest prickles of stem 4–6 mm; stems usually purplish; bud prickles sometimes branched. 7c subsp. rotundata

+ Longest prickles of stem 7–10 mm; stems greenish white; bud prickles simple. 7d subsp. argentea

Lower Taxa