Mexican Prickly Poppy (Argemone mexicana)

Mexican Prickly Poppy is an introduced flower in India [1]. Its almost seen in every wasteland and cant be missed because of some features like: catchy yellow color, bottle-green colored leaves with spines. Another reason being its all year flowering season. In konkan like areas where flowers blooming in dry season are pretty low.

Two photos presented here are shot at Vangani. I have seen this flower at Matheran, at height of about 1000 m. Its Marathi name is Firangi dhotra. My speculation that like other 'dhotra' plants this must also be toxic, and in fact it is. Its also a medical plant used for curing Malaria in Mali [2].

The Sanskrit name svarnakshiri is given because of the yellow juice (Svarna - Gold; Kshiri - Juice ) [1].

Quick Facts:

Common name: Mexican Prickly Poppy, Mexican poppy, Prickly Poppy

Marathi: Firangi dhotra
Sanskrit: Kshirini, Swarnakshiri

Botanical name: Argemone mexicana Family: Papaveraceae (Poppy family)

Flowering: all year
Height:1 ft to 4 ft.