Dr. Abdulaziz M. Assaeed

Argemone ochroleuca

Species

Papaveraceae

Family

Hashrah

Vernacular name

Annual weedy herb

Life Form

An erect single to several stemmed annual herb, 40 to 100cm high. Stems are bluish-green, pithy, smooth or slightly covered with short hairs with scattered stiff yellow prickles. Leaves prickly lobed. The flowers are showy creamy white to yellow, on a short stalk or sessile at the ends of branches, and are 3 to 6cm wide in diameter. Sepals are hood-like, sparsely prickled and shed as the flower opens. Petals are deciduous, 2.5 to 3cm long and 1.4 to 4cm wide. Fruit is a prickly ellipsoid capsule, 2.5cm to 5cm long and 2cm in diameter. Seeds numerous dark brown or black, 1.5mm in diameter

Description

Commonly found as a weed of disturbed sites, roadsides, waste places, and over-grazed rangelands. It often occurs as dense stands in sandy stream beds and alluvial flats

Habitat

Poisonous invasive plant

Grazing Importance

None

Other Uses

References