FLORA OF ICELAND elements: Papaver radicatum, arctic poppy

Papaver radicatum; arctic poppies grow on gravelly dry soils. The geographic distribution of the specie on Iceland is rather odd. They are common both in low and highland in the north-west and in the east. Elsewhere they can only be found in the highland region or are very rare. Another yellow poppy, Papaver nudicaule, has been introduced but is only found in major urban areas (garden weeds). As its Latin name already suggest P. nudicaule has glabrous leaves where P. radicatum has dense hairy flowering stems. Also, the leaves are very different (P. nudicaule has much larger leaves).
It is a member of the Poppy family (Papaveraceae).

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