Plume-poppy

Bocconia frutescens, the tree celandine or plume-poppy, is a soft-wooded shrub or small tree of the Papaveraceae native to highlands of Mexico, Central America, the Andes, and parts of the Caribbean. Plants reach 3 to 7 m, with stout, hollow stems exuding a copious yellow to orange latex when cut. The leaves are alternate, very large (20 to 40 cm long), deeply pinnately lobed with glaucous undersides resembling oak leaves, and crowded toward the branch tips. Inflorescences are large terminal panicles of small, apetalous flowers with two early-deciduous sepals, numerous stamens, and a single carpel; the flowers are wind-pollinated. The fruit is a small, flattened, indehiscent capsule containing a single black seed with a red aril. It grows in pastures, forest edges, and disturbed mountain slopes from 1,000 to 3,000 m.