Bitterroot Restoration

Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Ranunculales
Family: Papaveraceae
Genus: Argemone
Species: A. mexicana

Common name: Shialkanta(Beng.); Prickly poppy(Eng.).
Edible Parts: Root, leaves, seed
Life cycle: Annual
Native Range: Western US and parts of Mexico

Description: Argemone mexicana is a species of poppy found in Mexico and now widely naturalized in the United States, India and Ethiopia. It is a prickly, glabrous, branching herb with yellow juice and showy yellow flowers, The Sanskrit name svarnakshiri is given because of the yellow juice (Svarna - Gold; Kshiri - Juice ). The height of this plant varies between 0.3 to 0.12 meters, Leaves are thistlelike. Stem clasping, Oblong, sinuately pinnatifid, spinous and viens are white. Flowers are terminal, yellow and of 2.5–5.0 cm diameter. Fruits are capsule.

Medicinal Uses: Argemone mexicana is used by traditional healers in Mali to treat malaria. The seed oil itself is used medicinally to treat dropsy, jaundice and skin diseases.