| Stylophorum diphyllum | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Division: | Magnoliophyta |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| Order: | Ranunculales |
| Family: | Papaveraceae |
| Genus: | Stylophorum |
| Species: | Stylophorum diphyllum (Michx.) Nutt. |
Stylophorum diphyllum (celandine-poppy, wood poppy, poppywort) is a herbaceous perennial native to moist woodland in eastern North America, valued for its yellow flowers. The celandine-poppy is named for the greater celandine (Chelidonium majus), a closely related European plant with similar-shaped leaves.
Plants grow about 1.5 feet tall from rhizomes. Leaves are pinnately cut and lobed. They grow from the base and off the flowering stems. The sap is a yellow-orange latex that stains.
The flowers have 4 yellow petals, two soon falling sepals, many yellow-orange stamens, and a single knobby stigma. They appear in umbels of one or more flowers from early spring to early summer.
After fertilization, a bristly blue-green pod hangs below the leaves. Seeds with white elaiosomes ripen in midsummer and the pod opens by four flaps.
Plants are relatively long lived and readily self-seed under garden conditions, where they are grown under full to part shade.