prickly poppy
prickly poppy
1715–25
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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| a gadget; dingus; thingumbob. |
| a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal. |
| prickly poppy | |
| —n | |
| an annual papaveraceous plant, Argemone mexicana, of tropical America, having prickly stems and leaves and large yellow or white flowers | |
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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prickly poppy
any of approximately 30 species of the genus Argemone, North American and West Indian plants (one species endemic to Hawaii) belonging to the poppy family (Papaveraceae). Most are annuals or perennials with spiny leaves, prickly fruits, and white, yellow, or orange sap. The three sepals end in hornlike spines. Some species have become naturalized in arid regions of South America, Asia, and Africa. Prickly poppies are cultivated as garden ornamentals but frequently become troublesome weeds when growing wild. They were an important source of drugs in pre-Columbian Mexico. Parts of the 30- to 90-centimetre (1- to 3-foot), bristly-stemmed plants are still used by herbalists to treat a number of ailments.
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