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The Papaveraceae, informally known as the poppy family, are an economically important family of about 42 genera and approximately 775 known species of in the order Ranunculales. The family is cosmopolitan, occurring in temperate and subtropical climates (mostly in the northern hemisphere) like Eastern Asia as well as California in North America. It is almost unknown in the tropics. Most are , but a few are and small . The family currently includes two groups that have been considered to be separate families: Fumariaceae and Pteridophyllaceae. Papaver is the classical name for poppy in Latin. (2025). 9780691209135 ISBN 9780691209135
The Leaf are alternate or sometimes whorled and have petioles and no stipules. They are usually lobed or pinnatifid (i.e. consisting of several not entirely separate leaflets), or much divided.
The plants are Hermaphrodite and pollination mostly by (entomophilous), but nectaries are lacking. A few are wind pollinated (anemophilous). There is a distinct calyx and corolla, except in Macleaya where the corolla is lacking. The flowers are medium-sized or large. The terminal flowers are solitary in many species. In others the terminal inflorescence is cymose or Raceme. The flowers are odourless and regular.
There are many , mostly 16 to 60, arranged in two separate whorls, the outer one with stamens alternating with petals, the inner one opposite, or numerous in the subfamily Papaveroideae. The gynoecium consists of a compound pistil with 2 to 100 carpels. The ovary is superior and Locule. The ovary is either stemless (sessile) or on a short stem (stipitate). The sepals of the plant typically number half of the petals for example two sepals accompany 4 petals or 3 sepals accompany 6 petals. The pistils and stamens are hidden inside the petals.
The non-fleshy fruit is usually a capsule, breaking open at maturity to release the through pores (poricidal), through the partitions between the cells (septicidal), or by means of valves (valvular). The numerous seeds are small. Their nutritive tissue (endosperm) is oily and farinose. The fruit of Platystemon is a schizocarp.
The basic Chromosome, x, is 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11, up to 12n = 84 (dodecaploidy) in species of Papaver, Argemone and Meconopsis.
The Papaveraceae family includes many plants that produce alkaloids, including opium poppy ( Papaver somniferum). Opium is derived from the latex of the opium poppy seed pods and has been used for centuries due to its psychoactive properties. The main alkaloids found in opium, such as morphine, and codeine have huge impact on pharmaceuticals and a big importance on many countries that produce it on a large-scale including Afghanistan. Afghanistan has an economic dependence on opium cultivation making it hard to stop large scale production of these flowers ultimately increasing illegal production. Researchers are understanding how alkaloids are made in poppy plants to develop poppy plants with specific alkaloid levels. There is high genetic variability among poppy cultivars and environmental factors like wounding and methyl jasmonate treatment induce higher alkaloid production. Challenges still remain in understanding what effects alkaloid production for pharmaceutical purposes, highlighting importance of research in this field.
The internal division of the Fumarioideae shown below follows Lidén (1993), with the exception of the placement of Pteridophyllum. The subtribes are given by the Germplasm Resources Information Network. The division of the Papaveroideae follows Hoot et al. (1997). In the latter study, the tribe Eschscholzieae would be the basal clade and sister group to the rest of the subfamily, which is divided into a different terminal clade (Chelidonieae) and into its sister group, formed by the Papavereae and Platystemoneae, whose separation is not based on the data presented by these authors. For discussions of subfamilies, see Carolan et al. (2006) and Blattner & Kadereit (1999).
The Papaveroideae typically grow in cooler and wooded areas, forming part of the undergrowth. They have adapted to arctic and alpine habitats and to arid, Mediterranean areas, many species are Ruderal species and segetal (growing in cornfields). Pteridophyllum grows in the undergrowth of woods of needle-leaved trees between . The Fumarioideae are basically found in open, rocky, alpine landscapes or vertical or overhanging cracks, while some species are ruderal or segetal.
Others: Other characteristic substances contained within these species include: meconic acid and chelidonic acid, as well as cyanogenic glycoside compounds derived from tyrosine: dhurrin and triglochinin; in the Fumarioideae while the Chelidonieae contain the free amino acid δ-acetylornithine.
: and absent. , kaempferol and/or quercetin present.
Many of these plants are . The Mexican prickly poppy is poisonous if taken internally and may cause oedema and glaucoma. Even if an animal, such as a goat, should persist in grazing on this plant, not only will the animal suffer but so will those who drink its milk, because the poisons are passed along in the milk.
Papaverites, a fossil fruit from the Eocene of Germany, may be associated with Papaveraceae. Chesters et al. (1967) mentions Papaver pictum from the Oligocene of England.
Fumarioideae
Papaveroideae
Ecology
Pollination is entomophile (basically by Fly and Hymenoptera, less often by ), except in Bocconia and Macleaya. In Papaveroideae, the reward is pollen as there is no nectar. The visual attractant is the petals that are usually brightly coloured and often have basal nectar guide, sometimes the attractant can also be the androecium as the petals do not last long. Some species, mostly those from the arctic and alpine regions, reinforce their attraction with floral fragrance (for example, Papaver alpinum smells of cloves), which in the case of Romneya drugs the insects. The and stigmas mature at the same time, but Bocconia is clearly protogynous, the stigmas emerge from the calyx that encloses them. Autopollination is common and in some cases (for example, Roemeria hybrida) it occurs before the bud opens (cleistogamy). The presence of an aril suggests dispersion of seeds by ants (myrmecochory), once they have been expelled by the fruit. In the case of Bocconia the seeds remain attached to the after the capsule's valves have fallen leaving their brilliant red or orange arils exposed, which attract birds to feed on them, facilitating their dispersal (Seed dispersal). Seeds that lack an aril appear to be dispersed by the wind (Seed dispersal) for capsules that open, in the other cases they are freed when the fruit decomposes. Many Fumarioideae species have explosive fruits (ballistic), while Rupicapnos and Sarcocapnos species are , growing on rocks, and their fruit's peduncles and pedicels are geotropic and they lengthen so that the seeds bury into the base of the plant.
Phytochemistry
: The Isoquinoline alkaloids present in the family are well known. They are derived from berberine, tetrahydroberberine, protopine and benzophenanthridine in Papaveroideae, and from spirobenzylisoquinoline and cularine in Fumarioideae, as well as from other groups that give them pharmacological properties: derivatives of aporphine, morphinan, pavine, isopavine, narceine and rhoeadine.
Fossil record
The fossils of the late Cretaceous poppy Palaeoaster inquirenda from the Western Interior of North America occurs from 74.5 million year old deposits in the Fruitland Formation in New Mexico to 64.5 million year old deposits in the Hell Creek Formation in North Dakota. Dehiscent fruit fossils of Palaeoaster have been found at the excavation site for the well known Tyrannosaurus rex specimen BHI 3033. The seed capsule of Palaeoaster has some similarities to that of the extant poppy genus Romneya.
Cultivation
The family is well known for its striking flowers, with many species grown as , including California poppy ( Eschscholtzia californica, the California state flower), the stunning blue Meconopsis ( Meconopsis), several species of Papaver, and the wildflower bloodroot. Only two species are of economic importance for the production of opium and its derivatives for pharmaceutical use: Papaver somniferum is cultivated legally in order to obtain morphine and other opiates, and Papaver bracteatum, for thebaine. Papaver somniferum is also the source of the used in cooking and baking, and poppy seed oil. The illegal cultivation of poppies in Asia for the production of opium and heroin is virtually equal to the legal production in the rest of the world. Some Funarioideae have a limited use in gardening, with Lamprocapnos spectabilis ("bleeding heart"), and Pseudofumaria lutea ("yellow corydalis") commonly used. Chinese traditional medicine used the boiled and dried tubers of Corydalis yanhusuo ("yanhusuo").
Symbolism
The opium poppy and corn poppy are symbols, respectively, of sleep and death. In Great Britain, Canada, the United States, and Australia the corn poppy is worn in remembrance of World War I.
Bibliography
(1993). 9783540555094, Springer-Verlag. ISBN 9783540555094
(2025). 9781139486491, Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781139486491
S. C. Willemstein (1987). 9789004084575, E. J. Brill / Leiden University Press Leiden. ISBN 9789004084575 (pbk.)
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