Crumby on the Job - End Date - Revised to Include New and Important Ecological Data

There I was, meandering in the terrible wilderness, a tousand or maybe two tousand feet from the nearest pavement. Yep, there I was, struggling to make good progress, the Japanese brome and the rescuegrass up to my private parts, impeding forward progress. "How many chiggers are lurking amid these introduced grasses?", I wondered. But I knew I was well-protected against the chiggers unless some enterprising chigger vaulted into my exposed butt crack. Hurriedly I hiked up my southward heading pants and tucked in my trusty shirt.

Then lo and behold there they were. Native perennials in a sea of exotics. "Hark, it is the Argemone albiflorum-Cirsium texanum community!", I cried out, excitedly. Yep. I need to take a picture of a prickly poppy so I can compare these prickly poppies to some other prickly poppies, photogenically.

Trouble was, those dang prickly poppies were tall as me. Plus, the wind was blowing efficaciously, the prickly poppy blossoms dancing in response to the efficacious wind. "How the heck can I get a dang picture under these environmental conditions?", I wondered.

But, there is always hope. Anon, after some searching, I found a spot where a truck had run over some of the prickly poppies. Those prickly poppies were prone. Then, lo and behold, there was a prone prickly poppy blossom that looked pretty good for being run over by a truck.

The astute observer may note the yellow latex on one of the petals.

These prickly poppies are good for making opium, maybe. So if you need some opium, adventurous ones, here you go.

Now here's another one that's good for making opium, maybe, Argemone aurantiaca. You may be able to tell from the difference in the names that two kinds of Argemones are indicated, though both are good for making opium, maybe. But how the heck does a mere mortal ascertain which is which?

Well there are several ways, but the easiest is to grab a hold of a leaf with mother thumb and your pointer finger. If you only get a prickle broke off in your thumb, it's aurantiaca. If you get generally painfully stuck in both yer digits, it's albiflora. Yes, it is true that the fierce looking prickles on aurantiaca are mostly just for show and generally soft to the touch. While those on albiflora hurt real bad when you grab the leaves or tug on them or tear them so you may see the yellow sap that you will need to make opium.

Did you know that the sepals on aurantiaca are early dedicuous? This morning I watched a flower open and the sepals fell off. I was shocked!!!!