Papaver nudicaule L., Sp. Pl. 507. 1753; Hook. f. & Thomson in Fl. Brit. India 1: 117. 1872.

Herbs, perennial, with simple somewhat stiff setose hairs; rootstock scaly, covered with somewhat sheathing persistent leaf bases; scapes 1 - 5, erect, 10 - 58 cm long, 1-flowered, covered with 1.5 - 3.5 mm long dense hairs. Leaves all basal in rosette, pinnately 3-lobed, 2 - 6 x 1 - 3 cm, somewhat glaucous, bristly or ciliate; lobes usually pinnatifid; terminal lobe larger than lateral ones, often 3-lobulate; secondary lobes oblong-acute, up to 11 mm long and 5 mm broad; petioles 2 - 12 cm long, widened at base, ending in a leaf-sheath. Flower buds ovoid-orbicular or suborbicular, blunt at apex, 8 - 12 x 5 - 9 mm, appressed hairy, dark brown; flowers 1.5 - 3 cm in diam. Sepals concave, caducous, hispid with stiff brown hairs. Petals 4, obovate, suborbicular, 10 - 18 mm across, yellowish-orange, purple or yellow. Stamens many, linear; filaments as long as ovary; anthers 1 - 2 mm long. Capsules oblong, obovoid to subglobose, 8 - 15 x 5 - 10 mm, roughly setose; stigmatic disc as broad as capsule with 7 - 8 ridges, dehiscing by 7 - 8 pores alternating ridges; seeds reniform, ca 0.5 mm in diam.

Fl. & Fr. May - Aug.

Distrib. India: Western Himalayas, between 3000 - 5000 m. Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.

Pakistan, Afghanistan, Russia, Mongolia and China (Tibet).

Notes. Very variable in size and colour of flowers, varying from pale yellowish to yellow, orange and saffron.

Chromosomeno.n = 14 (Koul et al. in Nucleus 15: 117 - 123. 1972);2n = 42 (Hanelt in Kulturpflanze 18: 73 - 88. 1970).