Papaver argemone ssp meiklei Prickly Poppy Cyprus Endemic
This was quite a common wayside poppy growing both in the countryside and at the edge of car parks. Although the flowers look very similar to other member of the Papaver genus, the distinctive seed heads are the character to look for. It is similar to P. nigrotinctum but that species has a very large dark centre to the corolla which these plant did not have.
According to some texts P. argemone does not grow in Cyprus but P. argemone ssp meiklei is actually a listed Cyprus endemic species so this is probably that sub species. However it is not clear what the differences are between P. argemone and P. argemone ssp meiklei and some doubt this split into sub species anyway.
The spelling of the sub species is given both as ssp meiklii (which is wrong according to Ralf Hand in Supplementary notes to the Flora of Cyprus) and the correct spelling: ssp meiklei
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| Papaver argemone Prickly Poppy | Papaver argemone Prickly Poppy fruit |
Countryside outside Vouni, Cyprus, 19th April 2011
Added on June 17th 2011, updated 4th July 2023