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Papaver alpinum

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Kingdom
  
Family
  
Scientific name
  
Papaver alpinum

Rank
  
Species

Order
  
Genus
  
Papaver

Higher classification
  
Poppy

Papaver alpinum wwwplantworldseedscomimagesseedimagesPAPAV

Similar
  
Poppy, Gentiana orbicularis, Cirsium spinosissimum, Doronicum clusii, Senecio alpinus

Papaver alpinum, the Alpine poppy or dwarf poppy, is a poppy found in the Alps. This species includes several sub-species, four of which are found in Austria.

Contents

Papaver alpinum Papaver alpinum Wikipedia

Features

Papaver alpinum CalPhotos Papaver alpinum ssp ernestimayeri Julian Poppy

A short, upright, hairy perennial with leaves one to two odd pinnate. Grows to a height of 5 to 20 cm, with several upright and hairy stems. As with all poppy species, a latex is produced. The feathery leaves are arranged in a ground hugging rosette.

Papaver alpinum FilePapaver alpinum subsp alpinum s str AlpMohn IMG 3045jpg

The flowers are hermaphroditic and are radially symmetric with a diameter of up to 5 cm. The fragrant flowers do not have nectar, but produce pollen. The flowering period is from July to August.

Papaver alpinum FilePapaver alpinum subsp alpinum s str AlpMohn IMG 3067jpg

All alpine poppy sub-species have a strong taproot and make a good rockery plant. To help secure the plant, the root hairs are angled upwards.

Subspecies

Papaver alpinum FilePapaver alpinum subsp alpinum Steiermarkjpg Wikimedia Commons

Rhaetian Alps poppy (P. alpinum subsp. rhaeticum) has light yellow to orange petals and feathery foliage is found in the Central and Southern Alps. In Austria, it is scattered around Carinthia, Styria and Salzburg, in Switzerland allegedly only in the Engadin.

Salzburg Alpine poppy (P. alpinum subsp. sendtneri) also has pinnate deciduous leaves, with white flowers with a yellow heart. This grows only in the northern Alps and Northern Limestone Alps. It is found in moving limestone rubble, boulders, lime rock, or dolomite. It prefers a high altitude of 1300m to 2600m. Although the protected plant is rare, it is the most commonly found white flowering alpine poppy. In Austria it is found in Tyrol, Vorarlberg, Upper Austria, Salzburg and Styria.

Kerner-Alpine poppy (P. alpinum subsp. kerneri), or Karawanken Alpine poppy, has two to three times pinnate deciduous leaves and bright yellow flowers. It is found in the south-eastern Limestone Alps, with a main distribution in the Slovenian Alps. In Austria it is only found in the southern Carinthia.

North-east Alpine poppy (P. alpinum subsp. alpinum; syn. P. burseri Crantz), or Burser-Alpine poppy, has two to three times pinnate deciduous leaves with white flowers and is found in the north eastern Limestone Alps. In Austria it is found in Lower Austria, Upper Austria and Styria.

Other subspecies, P. alpinum ssp ernesti-mayer is white; P. alpinum subsp. dubium is bright red, P. alpinum subsp. corona-sancti-stephani (Zapal.), P. alpinum subsp. degenii (Urum. & Jáv.)

Chemistry

The alkaloids amurensine and amurensinine can be found in P. alpinum.

References

Papaver alpinum Wikipedia


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