DICOTYLEDONS
PAPAVERACEAE - Poppy Family
A family of 200
annual or perennial herbs or shrubs, often with milky latex.
Found mainly in the temperate regions of the Northern
Hemisphere, but a few are tropical. Eight species
naturalised in Western Australia. Argemone
ochroleuca(Mexican
poppy)
DP is a
prickly, robust, greyish annual. The leaves are
deeply-divided, often blotched with white and very prickly.
The flowers are cream to pale yellow, and are usually
produced in spring. A garden escape that is now widespread
in the coarse sand banks and cobble beds of the major rivers
in arid Western Australia. Also occurs in pastures in parts
of the Avon Valley, and on wasteland in the south-west.
Native to America. Eschscholzia
californica(Californian poppy)is a smooth, erect, greyish annual with
finely-divided leaves. It flowers in spring and the showy
yellow or orange flowers have four stigmas. The fruit is a
narrow, cylindrical capsule. Garden escape on wasteland
between Perth and Augusta. Native to America.
Glaucium
corniculatumis
an erect, hairy, bushy annual with greyish, pinnately-lobed
leaves. Its crimson petals have a black spot at their base
and the fruit is a narrow, cylindrical capsule. This plant
is very like Californian poppy except for its flower colour
and broader leaves, as well as being hairy and having two
instead of four stigmas. Naturalised around settlements on
the Nullarbor. Native to Europe. Papaver
(poppies)
have flowers with four showy petals, many stamens and a
rounded ovary, with the stigmas arising directly from the
top (that is, no style). The leaves are usually deeply
dissected. There are about 100 species from the temperate
Northern Hemisphere, three naturalised in Western Australia,
all flowering in spring. They are best distinguished by the
shape and hairiness of their fruiting capsules.
P.
hybridum(rough
poppy) has egg-shaped fruiting capsules covered with
prominent golden bristles. It is a hairy annual with crimson
petals, often with a black blotch at the centre. Occurs
throughout the south-west on wastelands, among crops and
pastures and also in grazed arid zone woodlands.
Argemone
ochroleuca, PH
Eschscholzia
californica, PH
P. rhoeas
(field
poppy)has a smooth, rounded fruiting capsule. Itis a hairy
annual with tall, slender stems and brilliant scarlet
nodding flowers. This is the plant, common in European
farmland and wastelands, that is used to commemorate
Remembrance Day. Probably a garden escape, found
occasionally along roadsides. P.
somniferum(opium
poppy)has smooth, almost globular fruiting capsules. It is
an upright, bluish-grey annual with stiff hairs. The flowers
are white, pink or lilac and have a purple blotch at the
base of each petal. A garden escape found on wastelands in
the south-west. (The cultivar from which opium is made, and
which produces the poppy seeds used on bread, is not found
in Western Australia.)
Papaver
hybridum,
RR
PASSIFLORACEAE - Passion Flower Family
A family with about 500 species, mostly in tropical America. They tend to occur in disturbed or secondary forest. Western Australia has one native species and two naturalised ones. Passiflora(passion vines) are vines, climbing by tendrils. They have alternate, palmately-lobed leaves and flowers with a distinctive ring of large filamentous appendages, called the corona, lying flat on top of the petals. The fruit may be a capsule or a berry. In Perth and the wetter south-west, P. filamentosa (passion flower)can be found as a garden escape along roadsides and creeklines. It is a smooth perennial vine with striking flowers, 20cm across, with white petals, a lilac and purple corona and yellow stamens and style. The fruit is a capsule. Native to America. |
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P. foetida(stinking passion flower) is a common weed of disturbed areas on river and creek banks from the Kimberley to Carnarvon. It is a softly hairy perennial vine with solitary flowers up to 5cm across with cream petals and a white or purple corona. After flowering, the prickly bracts enlarge to enclose the orange berry. The whole plant has an unpleasant smell, but the ripe fruit is edible. Native to South America, now widespread throughout the tropics. |
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PHYTOLACCACEAE - Inkweed Family
Herbs, shrubs or
trees, often somewhat succulent. About 125 species in
tropical and sub-tropical regions. One species naturalised
in Western Australia. Phytolacca
octandra(inkweed)
is a stout, tuberous perennial, woody at the base and
semi-succulent above. It has small flowers in dense spikes
in the angles of the lance-shaped leaves, followed by shiny
black berries. The whole plant is often reddish. It may be
toxic to stock. Weed of disturbed areas, including
creeklines, roadsides, mine rehabilitation sites and
poorly-managed paddocks from Perth to Ravensthorpe. Native
to America.
Phytolacca
octandra, SE
PITTOSPORACEAE - Pittosporum Family
Trees, shrubs or climbers, this family has around 200 species in warm temperate areas of the Southern Hemisphere. In Western Australia there are 26 native species and one naturalised. Pittosporum undulatum(sweet pittosporum) is a small bushy tree with lanceolate leaves that are dark green above and paler below, with wavy margins. The creamy-white, bell-shaped flowers grow in terminal clusters. The fruiting capsules are orange, with brown seeds. Escaping from gardens onto verges, granite rocks and forest in higher rainfall areas. Native to south-eastern Australia. |
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