Pale poppy

Roemeria argemone, the pale poppy or prickly long-headed poppy (formerly Papaver argemone), is an annual herb in the family Papaveraceae native to Europe, North Africa, and western Asia, and widely naturalized as a weed of arable land. Plants reach 15-50 cm tall with sparsely branched, bristly-hairy stems exuding a clear or slightly yellow latex when broken. The basal and lower stem leaves are 1-3 times pinnately divided into narrow oblong or lanceolate segments tipped with a fine bristle, giving a feathery silhouette; upper leaves are smaller and more simply divided. Flowers are solitary on long bristly peduncles and 2.5-5 cm across, with four pale to deep scarlet petals each typically bearing a small dark blackish-purple basal blotch. The four petals are usually crinkled and somewhat narrow, giving the bloom a less full appearance than the common field poppy. Flowering takes place from May to July. The fruit is a distinctive elongated, club-shaped, bristly-ribbed capsule 1.5-3 cm long with stiff erect bristles, opening by pores beneath the stigmatic disc to release numerous tiny seeds. The species favors light sandy or chalky arable soils, fallow fields, and disturbed ground.