Poppy (family): general characteristics, flower formula and features

Poppy - a family of dicotyledonous plants fromorder Lyutikotsvetnye, donated to mankind the infamous opium poppy and at the same time a lot of decorative garden flowers. The article gives a general botanical description of plants.

Characteristics of the family Poppy

The family is very diverse. It includes about 700 species, united in 45 genera. Mostly it is grass, less often bushes and semishrubs, except for small trees with strongly dissected or whole leaves without stipules. The geography of the distribution is impressive, but the bulk of the representatives grows in the northern and temperate latitudes. The largest number of species (over 300) belongs to the genus Hohlatka.

Family Poppy: a general characteristic of a flower

For representatives of the family of Maca are characteristicbisexual flowers, located singly or collected in inflorescences of various types, more or less cyclic, zygomorphic or regular. They have a double perianth, a pair of early decaying sepals and, as a rule, 4 petals, rarely more. For poppies is characterized by the presence of many stamens, stigmas or sticks of a sitting kind, the upper ovary. Fruit - a pod or a capsule, contains small seeds with an endosperm and an embryo, possesses calves, but still they are not present in all species. All plants without exception contain alkaloids.

Family Poppy on the diversity of flowers in many ways resembles the Lyutik. Both there and there are actinomorphic and zygomorphic forms, absolutely different from each other.

Subfamilies

The family of Macae is divided into two subfamilies. The main criterion for the classification of genera is the structure of the flower. So, for example, celandine, poppy have the correct form and belong to the subfamily proper poppy, and representatives with zygomorphic - to Dymyankov. Let us dwell on the second in more detail. The largest species of Dymyankovs - Khokhlatka - includes about 300 species. They all grow in the temperate climate of Eurasia and North America. Many of them - geophytes, having tubers (mainly of root origin), and ephemeroids. In particular, these include the familiar common hood. A plant with large brushes of violet-pink flowers, which are especially loved by bumblebees. They are sharply zygomorphic in shape. The reason for this is the petal of the outer circle, stretched out into the spur. But if we compare the diagrams of the hohlatka and aconite, then we can notice quite different types of zygomorphy - in the first it is transverse. Only flowers of the poppy family have similar features.

The disputed taxonomy

To begin with, it should be noted that the mostTwo types of taxonomy of flowering plants are popular: the APG II system (published in 2003) and the Cronquist classification developed by the American botanist. The second is used more widely both in the primordial form, and with modern adaptations. According to the APG II system, the plants of the Makov family belong to the order Lyutikotsvetnyh. It is these data that can often be found on Internet resources. However, according to the traditional classification, they have their own order - Macotone.

Botany recognize that the systematic situationfamily is really ambiguous. Obviously, the Poppy have a common ancestor with the Lyutikovs (in the photo below the Buttercup Large). In this respect, some genera from America are very interesting. They have the characteristics of the flower Lyutikova and at the same time have holocrats, which are unusual for them and are a sign that the family of poppies possesses.

Its representatives are sufficiently known, mainly in garden culture. However, the most famous, of course, is the opium poppy. It is fair to add that he is notorious.

Opium poppy

At present, it is only distributed inculture. Obtained, usually from unripe boxes, milky juice is rich in alkaloids, which are valued from a medical point of view: narcotin, morphine, codeine, etc. Long since, opium smoking has been common in Asian countries, especially in China, where it was massive. As a result, the plant has become not only useful, but also dangerous. The cultivation of poppies (opium and other species containing narcotic compounds) in Russia has been banned since 2004 as part of the fight against drug addiction.

Other members of the family

Leading the conversation about the family of the Poppy, it should be mentioned that it includes a lot of species, which are valuable medicinal and ornamental garden plants.

• The genus Purity. Currently there are only two types: Asian and large. Both plants have pronounced medicinal properties, known to mankind from time immemorial. The popular name is "wart" because of its ability to treat skin diseases and remove warts.
• The genus of Khokhlatka. It includes many species, mainly perennial plants. A characteristic feature - tuberous thickening of the root, large racemose inflorescence. Representatives of the genus - not only valuable medicinal plants, but also honey-plants. Decorative forms and varieties are derived.
• Genus Eschsolcia is a small genus of plants from North America, which includes about 10 species. Its representatives are best known as ornamental plants, cultivated as annuals.

• The genus of Argemon. The medicinal properties of plants were known to the Aztecs. Now the family is valued for its high decorative and is actively used in garden and indoor floriculture.
• The genus Sanguinaria includes only one species. The natural environment of plant growth is forests in the eastern part of North America. All its parts contain very toxic alkaloids. Sanguinaria Canadian is used in pharmaceuticals and traditional medicine.