Papaveraceae

Papaveraceae [pə‚pav·ə′rās·ē‚ē]

(botany)

A family of dicotyledonous plants in the order Papaverales, with regular flowers, numerous stamens, and a well-developed latex system.

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Papaveraceae 

(poppy), a family of dicotyledonous plants, including mostly herbs and some shrubs and small trees. The flowers are regular, bisexual two- or, less frequently, three-parted, and usually large; they are solitary or sometimes in inflorescences. The gynoecium has two or more carpels, and the ovary is usually superior. The fruit is a capsule. Most Papaveraceae are characterized by segmented milk vessels containing a colored or, less frequently, colorless juice. There are approximately 25 genera, with 450 species, distributed primarily in the temperate and subtropical zones of the northern hemisphere. Six genera, with about 70 species, are found in the USSR. The most important genera are Papaver, Chelidonium, Meconopsis, and Eschscholzia (the last two are ornamentals). The family Fumariaceae is sometimes treated as a subfamily of Papaveraceae. The genus Hypecoum is sometimes classified as the special family Hypecoaceae.

REFERENCE

Popov, M. G. “Makovye—Papaveraceae B. Juss.” In Flora SSSR, vol. 1. Moscow-Leningrad, 1937.