by CMG Betty J
The Prickly Poppy, Argemone albiflora, is an annual to biennial that blooms after the bluebonnets have started to fade in the spring and continues to flower through June. As the name implies, the leaves and stems are covered in short spines, the stems having more prickles than the leaves. A sub-species that often grows in the Hill Country is ssp. texana, the Blue Stem Prickly Poppy. Another sub-species that is endemic to Texas and mostly found on the Edwards Plateau is Argemone aurantiaca, also called the Texas Prickly Poppy. These natives grow easily in open fields, in ditches and in pastures.
The striking white flowers of the Prickly Poppies make it easy to spot along the roadside and close examination reveals that flowers are about 4” wide with fragile, crinkly petals that surround numerous yellow to red-tinged stamens and a purple stigma. The bluish green leaves are 2-8” long, alternate, stalkless and deeply lobed with a wavy, spiny edge. They grow in loose clusters, sometimes as tall as 5 feet.
Prickly Poppies grow best in sandy or gravelly soils of disturbed areas like fencerows and railroad embankments but are especially numerous in old fields and pastures. The foliage is so prickly that it is usually not eaten by cattle or deer. Like all poppies it produces abundant pollen and so is a favorite of honeybees and other small insects. It does not yield much nectar. When grown in a residential garden their bright white flowers add lovely contrast to other plants. They do reseed easily so care must be taken to dead-head the spent flowers to control their spread.