Papaveraceae Family: Characteristics and Habitat

Papaveraceae Family

• Economically important plants widely grown for their attractive flowers
• Comprises 44 genera and 770 species
• Mostly herbaceous plants

Habitat

• Widely distributed in temperate regions
• Most species found in Northern hemispheres

Stem

• Herbaceous, erect, cylindrical, and branched

Leaves

• Radical, large, alternate or sometimes opposite, simple, lobed or deeply divided or compound

Inflorescence

• Terminal flowers solitary in most species
• Cymose or racemose in others

Flower

• Hermaphrodite, actinomorphic or zygomorphic, hypogynous, di or trimerous
• Ebracteate, pedicellate, large, and showy

Calyx

• Sepals 2-3, free, caducous, inferior

Corolla

• Petals 4 or more, free in two whorls

Androceium

• Stamens numerous, occasionally 4 or 2, free, alternating, whorls

Gynaeceium

• Polycarpillary, syncarpous, uni locular, ovules usually numerous, placentation parietal

Fruit

• Capsule dehiscing by pores or valves

Papaver Somniferum

• Botanical origin: Papaver somniferum
• Common name: Crude Opium, Gum opium, post, Afim
• Part used: Dried milky latex obtained by incision from unripe capsules
• Habit: Annual herb
• Habitat: Found in Turkey, India, Pakistan, Iran, Thailand
• Collection: October to March, unripe capsules are incised longitudinally up to 1mm depth

Constituents

• More than 30 alkaloids, including:
  • Morphine
  • Codeine
  • Thebaine
  • Noscapine
  • Narceine
  • Papaverine
• Meconic acid (free and in combination with morphine)
• Sugars
• Salts
• Albumins
• Colouring matter

Medicinal Uses

• Opium and Morphine: Relieve pain, hypnotics, affect sensory nerve cells of the cerebrum
• Opium: Exerts action more slowly, preferable in diarrhea, also a diaphoretic
• Codeine: Milder sedative, relieves cough, habitual use may cause constipation
• Both Morphine and Codeine decrease metabolism
• Codeine was used to treat diabetes before the introduction of insulin

Sangunaria Canadensis

• Botanical origin: Sangunaria canadensis
• Common name: Blood root, Red root
• Part used: Dried rhizomes and roots
• Habit: Perennial herb
• Habitat: United States of America and Canada

Constituents

• Mainly contain Isoquinoline alkaloids, including:
  • Sanguinarine
  • Chelerythrine
  • Protopine
  • Allocryptopine
• Other constituents include Starch and Resin

Medicinal Uses

• Emetic, expectorant
• Extract used as toothpaste in gingivitis and periodontal diseases
• Toxic if taken in large doses (more than 125mg)

Learn about the Papaveraceae family of plants, also known as the poppy family, including their characteristics, economic importance, and habitat.