Prickly Poppy

Argemone mexicana

Argemone mexicana is an annual that grows to about 1 meter in height with several branches and bluish leaves with thorny ends. The flowers are between 4 and 6 centimeters across and have six yellow petals. The fruits are very thorny and full of small black seeds. In a tropical climate, the plant will flower throughout the year. A. mexicana is from the tropics of the Americas, but may now be found throughout the world, including in tropical Africa, India, and Nepal (Ratsch 1998, 61-62).

Argemone mexicana is a plant that not only produces a large number of seeds (just like Papaver somniferum), but is easy to sprout as well.  The seeds look very similar to culinary poppy seeds that most are familiar with, but they are about twice the size.  Simply scatter these on a flowerbed during the spring, and you will have a fast-growing garden that sprouts in a week or two at most.

The soil doesn’t have to be anything particular, although prickly poppy does seem to prefer lighter, sandier soil. This plant easily adapts to various climates, as well. From personal experience, this plant grows in a very similar fashion to wormwood (Artemesia absinthium) in many ways. Both plants grow enthusiastically, and although they like warmer climates, they thrive throughout the growing months in places that see snow cover as well, seeding themselves at the end of summer and popping up again in the spring.

A. mexicana’s favorite climates are tropical in nature, although when in a warm, sunny environment, dry air doesn’t seem to bother the plant one little bit.  The plant produces a yellowish latex that is very similar in appearance to that produced by the narcotic poppy. 

TRADITIONAL USES: It is well documented that A. mexicana was an extraordinarily important plant for the Aztecs, especially for ritualistic purposes. Prickly poppy was considered the “nourishment of the dead” and would be offered to the gods during sacrifices. The Aztecs would collect the latex from this plant and make it into a thick, pliable material.  This material would then be fashioned into an image of the god of the Aztecs known as Huitzilopochtli (Knab 1995 cited in Ratsch 1998, 62).

The Florentine Codex (The name given to 12 books created under the supervision of Bernardino de Sahagún between approximately 1540 and 1585) tells us that during Aztec sacrifice rituals, a high priest would “kill” the representation of the god, and then distribute the “flesh” of the god among the worshipers. As stated in the Florentine Codex, A. mexicana was one of the three psychoactive plants used by the Aztec god Tláloc:  “And he was adorned in the following manner; a thick mask of soot over his face, his face painted with liquid cautschuk, he is smeared with soot; his face is spotted with a paste from the seeds of the prickly poppy, he wears the raiment of the dew, he wears the garb of the fog, he bears a crown of heron feathers, a neckband of green gems, he wears sandals of foam, and bells, he has white rushes for hair” (Ratsch 1998, 62).

The other two plants that are associated with and held sacred by Tláloc are Artemisia mexicana and Tagetes lucida (Ortiz de Montellano 1980 cited in Ratsch 1998, 62). Many modern day entheogenic explorers have found that a smoking blend composed of these three plants has very interesting effects indeed.

Outside of the Aztec civilization, A. mexicana became cemented in culture and infamy when Chinese residents in Mexico manufactured a product from the latex produced by this plant that was reportedly similar in effect to opium (Papaver somniferum) (Reko 1938 cited in Ratsch 1998, 61).

There is little documented evidence regarding the psychoactive properties of this plant, although there are two important and reliable reports. First, in India (one of the places this plant is  commonly found), A. mexicana is known as pharamgi dhattura specifically because of its psychoactive properties. Secondly, there are numerous accounts of the freshly dried leaves being smoked as a Cannabis substitute.  There is even scattered evidence that Argemone mexicana has been used as an aphrodisiac, but no solid evidence has been found to support this statement (Warrier et al. 1993 cited in Ratsch 1998, 61).

TRADITIONAL PREPARATION: The leaves of  the A. mexicana are typically smoked or made into a tea which is taken with an accompanying cigarette, much as in the way which Calea zacatechichi, the famous Dreaming Herb, is used. The seeds have been ground and added to smoking mixtures as well, not only as a potentiator, but for their own distinct effects. When available, the latex is also smoked, just like many other Plant Resins. A. mexicana is typically regarded as a sedative, but its visionary and psychoactive properties are just recently being explored (Ratsch 1998, 62).

A. mexicana is only recently coming in to the spotlight as a medicinal herb and teacher plant, and there is much laboratory and personal research that gets to be done to explore and verify what is mostly anecdotal evidence regarding the effects of this plant. If you have any personal experience whatsoever with this plant or if you know of online venders who carry the latex other than the one mentioned above, please feel free to contact us through the comment section of this post.

MEDICINAL USES: The Seri tribe of northern Mexico use a tea made from the leaves of Argemone mexicana to treat kidney pains.  This tea is also said to dispel bad blood that accumulates during birth. The Pima also use such a tea to treat kidney and bladder troubles. The Yucatec use the plant to treat gallbladder troubles (Ratsch 1998, 63).

In Peru, a plaster is made from Argemone mexicana and used to treat muscle pains. In the Caribbean islands the plant is used to remove warts and to treat sleep disorders.  A tea made from the leaves is also used to treat asthma.  In India, the latex is combined with cumin and oil and made into a paste which is used to treat skin diseases and flesh worms.  In Africa, the leaves are utilized for their sedative and tranquilizing effects (Watt 1967).

TRADITIONAL EFFECTS: Bep Oliver-Bever says this in regards to A. mexicana; “The seeds have a cannabis-like effect and the herb, juice, and flowers are reputed to be narcotic in many countries” (Oliver-Bever 1986). We have many friends in Mexico who have personal experience with this plant and say that the effects of smoking the dried herb are far from subtle, offering not only euphoriant effects, but aphrodisiac ones as well.

Although the dried leaves are typically the only parts of the plant available through various entheogen and ethnobotanical dealers, we are starting to see more and more seeds offered as word of the potential of this plant spreads. The collected latex, which is then dried into a tarry resin, reportedly has potent narcotic effects.

These effects are most likely due to the interesting amalgam of alkaloids present in all parts of this plant, with the highest concentration found in a part that is rarely used or spoken of; the roots. It is important to note that the seeds contain TWO toxic alkaloids, sanguinarine and dihydrosanguinarine, so although the seeds seem to be safe to smoke, do not eat them if you chose to work with them. Symptoms of eating the seeds include nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, breathlessness, limb swelling, and glaucoma. Death can occasionally result from cardiac arrest (Voogelbreinder 2009, 88).

Aregemone mexicana also contains isoquinoline alkaloids. The effects and possible uses of isoquinolines, a compound found in many plants, including cacti and poppies, have still yet to be fully explored. There is now a great debate amongst chemists as to whether or not isoquinolines have the potential for psychoactive effects.

During the time of the Aztecs, the prickly poppy was known as the nourishment of the dead;
souls would refresh themselves on it in the realm of the dead and in the rain-rich paradise
(Rätsch 1985). Prickly poppy is mentioned in numerous documents from the colonial period
(Sahagun, Hernández, Yerbas y hechizerias, etc.) and in Europe was already well known by
1597, when it was described by John Gerard. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Chinese
residents of Mexico were said to produce a kind of opium from the prickly poppy that they used
as a legal substitute for Papaver somniferum (Reko 1938, 94f.*). Today, the dried plant is
smoked as a marijuana substitute (see Cannabis indica) and aphrodisiac. In India, the plant is
called pharamgi dhattura because of its psychoactive properties, and it is regarded as a sister
of Datura metel (Warrier et al. 1993, 169*). Prickly poppy is very easily grown from seed. The
seeds may be either simply dispersed in spring or planted in seedbeds. The plant prefers light,
sandy soils, but with sufficient sunlight it can adapt to any type of soil (Grubber 1991, 23*). It
can tolerate climates that are tropically moist, hot and dry, subtropical, or moderate. Under
cultivation, it can thrive for two or more years. The dried herbage can be smoked alone or
in smoking blends. The latex that is tapped from the capsule can be dried and smoked. No
information is available about dosages (Gottlieb 1973, 9*). In Urubamba (Peru), gringos smoke
the dried flowers as a marijuana substitute (Franquemont et al. 1990, 89*). Further research is
needed to determine the appropriate dosages. It is not entirely clear whether the Aztecs or any
other Mesoamerican peoples used the prickly poppy for psychoactive purposes. Since it was
regarded as a nourishment of the dead, it is possible that its consumption or use may have been
controlled or prevented; in any case, its use was limited to the priests. It may have been utilized
for shamanic journeys into the worlds beyond (Rätsch 1985). The prickly poppy was a sacred
plant of the Aztec rain god Tláloc, who reigned in Tlálocan, the “kingdom of dreams” (Knab
1995, 67*): The rain was attributed to the rain god, the rain priest. He created, allowed to fall,
scattered the rain and the hail, enabled the trees, the grass, the maize to blossom, sprout up,
become green, burst open, grow. Moreover, he was also said to be responsible when people
drowned in water or were killed by lightning. And he was adorned in the following manner: a
thick mask of soot over his face, his face painted with liquid cautschuk, he is smeared with soot;20
his face is spotted with a paste from the seeds of the prickly poppy, he wears the raiment of the
dew, he wears the garb of the fog, he bears a crown of heron feathers, a neckband of green
gems, he wears sandals of foam, and bells, he has white rushes for hair. (Sahagun, Florentine
Codex 1: 4*) The medicinal use of prickly poppy juice to treat eye ailments is common and is
found, for example, among the Mixe and the Maya (Lipp 1991, 187*; Roys 1976, 94*). The
Serí Indians of northern Mexico prepare a tea from leaves wrapped in linen that they drink for
kidney pains. The tea is also said to dispel the “bad” blood that accumulates during birth (Felger
and Moser 1974, 427*). The Pima Indians of northern Mexico also use the leaves to treat
kidney ailments (Pennington 1973, 221*); a decoction is drunk for difficulties with urination
(Eldridge 1975, 316*). The Yucatec Maya utilize the plant for gallbladder disorders (Pulido and
Serralta 1993, 47*). In Peru, a plaster made of prickly poppy is used to treat muscle pains
(Chavez 1977, 192*). The inhabitants of many Caribbean islands apply the latex to remove
warts and use a decoction for sleeplessness and other sleep disorders. A tea from the leaves is
used for asthma (Seaworth 1991, 128*). In Ladakh, an aqueous extract of crushed leaves is used
externally to treat eye diseases and eczema (Navchoo and Buth 1989, 141*). In Uttar Pradesh
(India), the latex is combined with oil and cumin powder (Cuminum cyminumL.) to make a
paste that is applied externally as a treatment for skin diseases, eczema, and flesh worms
(Siddiqui et al. 1989, 484*). In Nigeria and Senegal, the prickly poppy is esteemed for its
sedative effects. Use of the leaves as a sedative was known even in Europe (Schneider 1974,
1:123*; Watt 1967). In Hawaii, the yellowish latex of Argemone glauca is used to treat
toothaches, neuralgia, and ulcers (Krauss 1981, 44*). Although it has often been claimed
that morphine is present in the prickly poppy, this information is strongly contested (Blohm
1962, 25*). Nevertheless, the entire plant is rich in alkaloids, with a concentration of 0.125% in
the roots and stalk (Roth et al. 1994, 142*). The leaves, stalks, and seeds contain the alkaloids
berberine and proto-pine (fumarine, macleyine) (Oliver-Bever 1982, 30). The roots also contain
coptisine, up to 0.099% α-allocryptopine (= α-fagarine), chelerythrine, and
dihydrochelerythrine. The rather toxic sanguinarine and dihydrosanguinarine are also present in
the seeds (Bose et al. 1963). Argemonine was isolated from the leaves and capsules and
identified as N-methylpavine (Martell et al. 1963). The entire plant contains the isoquinoline
alkaloids (–)-canadanine, queilantifoline, queleritrine, allocryptatopine, (–)-
tetrahydropalmatine, reticuline, sanguinarine, esculerine, and meta-hydroxy-(–)-estilopine (Lara21
Ochoa and Marquez Alonso 1996, 37*). Little is known about the plant’s psychoactive effects:
“The seeds have a cannabis-like effect and the herb, juice and flowers are reputed to be narcotic
in many countries” (Oliver-Bever 1982, 30). There are increasing reports from Mexico of
aphrodisiac and euphoriant effects after smoking the dried herbage. The thickened latex has
induced potent narcotic effects and delirium.

REFERENCES

Oliver-Bever, B. Medicinal Plants in Tropical West Africa. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Cambridge University Press, 1986.

Ratsch, Christian., The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants: Ethnopharmacology and its Applications. Rochester: Park Street Press, 1998.

Voogelbreinder, Snu, Garden of Eden: The Shamanic Use of Psychoactive Flora and Fauna, and the Study of Consciousness. Snu Voogelbreinder, 2009.

Watt, J.M. “African Plants Potentially Useful in Mental Health.” Lloydia 30 (1967): 1–22.