Mexican Prickly-poppy
Argemone mexicana
In the Carolinas and Georgia, found in sandy or clayey roadsides and disturbed areas. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native status: sources disagree, under review. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 71%
- Height
- Up to about 32 inches
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Annual
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves · Bloom
This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.
Recorded in 6 Louisiana parishes.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Who uses this plant?
1CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including LA
Genus host records with ranges including LA · Argemone
- Trichoplusia niNi Moth, Cabbage Looper Moth
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
—Specialist beesPollen specialists
7BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Argemone
- Alectoris chukarChukar
- Colinus virginianusNorthern Bobwhite
- Columbina passerinaCommon Ground Dove
- Meleagris gallopavoWild Turkey
- Pinicola enucleatorPine Grosbeak
- Zenaida asiaticaWhite-winged Dove
- Zenaida macrouraMourning Dove
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
Plant details
- Family
- Papaveraceae
- Soil pH
- Acidic to neutral
- Flower color
- Cream, yellow or white
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Flower color · “Cream, yellow or white” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center differs)
- Height · “Up to about 32 inches” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Life cycle · “Annual” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center differs)
- Soil · “Very dry” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center differs)
- Soil pH · “Acidic to neutral” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center differs)
Also known as
Mexican Prickly poppy
Conservation status
| Louisiana rank | SNA |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| LA status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- NatureServe Explorer
- USDA PLANTS
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025)
- Louisiana occurrence source
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications