Botanical name: Argemone ochroleuca Family: Papaveraceae (Poppy family)
Synonyms: Argemone mexicana var. ochroleuca
Pale Mexican Poppy is a prickly glaucous herb, growing up to 1 m tall, but usually 35-40 cm tall. Young stem are whitish purple or violetish, fading with age. Prickles are 6-9 mm long, with broader base. Leaves are stalkless, stem-clasping, basal leaves forming a rosette, upper alternate, variegated with white, 10-30 cm long, 4-10 cm broad, multiply cut. What distinguished it from the more common Mexican Prickly Poppy is its white or creamish white flowers, becoming yellowish on fading, 2.5-3 cm across. Flowers have a dark red 3 to 6 lobed stigma. The stigma in Mexican Prickly Poppy is not lobed. Pale Mexican Poppy is native to Mexico, naturalized in India and many warm countries. Flowering: March-May.
Identification credit: Gurcharan Singh
The flower labeled Pale Mexican Poppy is ...