MORPHOLOGY AND ALKALOID CHEMISTRY OF PAPAVER SETIGERUM DC. (PAPAVERACEAE)

Summary Papaver setigerum DC. populations from Mediterranean France and Campania, southern Italy, have been studied morphologically and phytochemically. Papaver setigerum, whose circumscription is reported to be substantially the same as P. somniferum L., revealed to be a species morphologically distinct from the latter. Morphine, codeine, and thebaine, the major alkaloids of P. somniferum, are lacking in capsules of P. setigerum. Their absence supports also at the chemotaxonomical level that P. setigerum is a distinct species from P. somniferum.