Yellow-flowered, prickly, latex-bearing annual poppy native to Mesoamerica and naturalised across much of the world's tropics. The Aztec pharmacopeia recorded multiple uses, and contemporary Mexican curanderos continue to use it. The seed oil contains the toxic alkaloid sanguinarine, the cause of epidemic dropsy when it has contaminated cooking-oil supplies.
ECOLOGY & HABITAT
Disturbed ground, roadsides, fallow fields. Highly drought tolerant. Self-seeding pioneer.
Distribution
Mexico (native)Central Americanaturalised across tropics and warm temperate zones worldwide
TRADITIONAL USE
- Aztec pharmacopoeia (Florentine Codex)
- Mexican curandero use for sleeplessness, cough, and minor wounds
- Latex applied topically for warts and skin conditions across folk traditions worldwide
REFERENCES
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- Schultes 1992
- Sharma 1999
