Papaver bracteatum (Lindley) Seedling Characters as a Rapid Aid to Identification

Abstract

Stomatal lengths of seedling cotyledons of the same physiological age have been investigated in Papaver bracteatum, P. orientale and P. pseudo-orientale. Results for 7 different collections of P. bracteatum, representing three distinct geographical regions, showed a remarkable consistency. Those for P. orientale and P. pseudo-orientale showed overlap with each other and at times stomatal lengths did not correspond to chromosome number. Statistical analysis of results however showed that P. bracteatum could be rapidly and certainly distinguished from the other two species, using the average of only 20 measurements. The alkaloidal spectrum of the seedlings was not found to be a good distinguishing character.

Key Word Index

Papaver bracteatum - Papaveraceae - Papaver Classification - Stomatal Lengths in Species Identification