Mexican Prickle Poppy (Argemone Mexicana)
Papaveraceae (Poppy family)
Group: Dicot (broadleaf)
Annual or biennial herb, native of the Americas that closely resembles a thistle. It is found along roadsides, cultivated fields, and waste areas. Seedlings and adult plants look alike. The plant is poisonous.
Seedling
Leaves are alternate, simple, and stalkless, with spine-tipped lobes.
Stem is erect, solitary, spiny, branching near the base, and 8 to 31 inches tall. Stems have yellow latex.
Flowers are solitary, bright yellow to orange. Fruit is a capsule, seeds are small, gray to black.
Roots are fibrous from a taproot.
Propagation is by seed.