Argemone pleiacantha subsp. ambigua

Stems 5-10 dm. Leaf blades: proximal lobed 1/2-2/3 distance to midrib; distal often clasping. Inflorescences: bud prickles simple. Capsules sparingly prickly.

Flowering spring-summer; fruiting summer-fall. Dry slopes and embankments, foothills; 1000-1800 m; Ariz.

STEMS: sparsely prickly, with 12-24 perpendicular or declined prickles per square cm of surface, the largest 5-8 nun long. LEAVES: with 3-8 prickles per square cm of surface below, 0-5 prickles per square cm above; lower and middle cauline leaves lobed one-half to four-fifths to the midrib; uppermost leaves often clasping. FLOWERS: with 15-45 or more perpendicular prickles per sepal, all of them simple; sepal hom 6-10 nun long, with 1-5 prickles near its base. CAPSULAR: surface visible, with 24-36 prickles per square cm of surface, the largest ones 6-8 mm long. NOTES: See also parent taxon for further description. Dry, gravelly soil, foothills and mountain valleys: Coconino, Gila, Graham, Maricopa, Mohave, Pinal, Santa Cruz, Yavapai cos.; 1050-2000 m (3500-6500 ft); Apr. Intermediates may be hybrids with subspp.pleiacantha and A. gracilenta. REFERENCES: Ownbey, Gerald B., Jeffrey W. Brasher, and Curtis Clark. 1998 Papaveraceae. J. Ariz. - Nev. Acad. Sci. 30(2): 120.