Argemone pleiacantha subsp. pleiacantha

Stems 5-12 dm. Leaf blades: proximal mostly lobed 4/5 distance to midrib; distal not clasping. Inflorescences: bud prickles often branched. Capsules mostly closely prickly, surface partially obscured, prickles straight or incurved. 2 n = 28.

Flowering spring-summer; fruiting summer-fall. Foothills and adjacent high plains; 800-2200 m; Ariz., N.Mex.; Mexico (Chihuahua and Sonora).

STEMS: very prickly, with 40-60 slender, perpendicular or declined prickles per square cm of surface, the largest 4.5-6.5 mm. LEAVES: with 10-20 prickles per square cm of surface below, 4-6 prickles per square cm above; lower and middle cauline leaves lobed three-fourths to five-sixths to the midrib; uppermost leaves not clasping. FLOWERS: with 80-120 perpendicular. prickles per sepal, the largest prickles sometimes branched; sepal horn 7-10 mm long, with 6-10 prickles near its base. CAPSULAR: surface obscured by 100-120 prickles per square cm of surface, the largest ones 4-6 mm long. 2n = 28. NOTES: See also the parent taxon for further description. Dry gravelly soil, foothills and high plains: Apache, Cochise, Coconino, Gila, Graham, Greenlee, Navajo, Pima, Pinal, SantaCruz, Yavapai cos.; 750-2300m (2500-7500 ft); Apr; sw NM; nw Chih., ne Son., Mex. Hybridizes with A. ochroleuca and possibly also with A. gracilenta.. REFERENCES: Ownbey, Gerald B., Jeffrey W. Brasher, and Curtis Clark. 1998 Papaveraceae. J. Ariz. - Nev. Acad. Sci. 30(2): 120.