Prickly Poppy, Windlass Hill on the Oregon Trail, near Ash Hollow, Nebraska, July 8, 2010
Argemone albiflora (Wikipedia)
Argemone albiflora, the white prickly poppy, also known as the bluestem prickly poppy or the Texas prickly poppy, is a small erect plant with a decorative white flower with a yellow latex. It is deeply rooted with yellow or red stamens. The plant is known for the sharp prickles on its stem and leaves. The sepals fall off as the flower of this plant grows bigger. It grows in the arid regions of the southern Midwest along roadsides and disturbed pieces of land. Native Americans have long revered this plant for its medicinal and other uses.
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Hi Mike – fascinating to see what grows in the arid region – the Prickly Poppy will have adapted well to the harsh conditions … including the pale petals … I bet the native Indians found some useful ideas from this plant.
Cheers Hilary
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This photo was taken about 90 minutes west of where I grew up in Nebraska. While it is a dry climate compared to some, it isn’t all that harsh compared to a lot of other places. High temperatures during the summers were seldom higher than the low 90s and winter was bearable, seldom dropping into negative values (in °F). One year (1964/65), before we moved to the “better side of the tracks,” I literally walked or rode my bicycle 1.6 miles (I just checked the distance on Google maps) to and from school daily during my first year of junior high. I only came close to frost bite one time…, it sure was painful when the school nurse applied warm water to my cold face.
Didn’t mean to go into all of that. The memories just came. 😉
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