Comparative research · Hawaiʻi & Mexico

The Argemone Project

What can prickly poppies teach us about the evolution of plant defense across continents and islands?

Project summary

Defense across a remarkable genus

This project examines defense in an apparently well-defended—but understudied—group of plants: the prickly poppies of the genus Argemone.

Approximately 32 Argemone species are native to the Americas. Their center of diversity lies in Mexico, while Hawaiʻi is home to a single endemic species. This unusual distribution creates a powerful natural comparison for investigating how plant defenses evolve across continental and island environments.

≈32species in the genus

Mexicocenter of diversity

1Hawaiian endemic species

Prickly poppies growing among red volcanic rocks in Hawaiʻi — Prickly poppies in a Hawaiian landscape

Researchers measuring prickly poppies in a field site in Mexico — Field research in Mexico

Open research resources

Explore the data

Interactive map

Explore Argemone observations geographically.

Mexico dataset

Open the project’s Mexico spreadsheet.

U.S. dataset

Open the project’s United States spreadsheet.

Field gallery

Inside the Poppy Project

Experiments, flowers, fieldwork, and the people tracing prickly-poppy defenses across Hawaiʻi and Mexico.

Pua kala plant being measured with a PAM fluorometer — Measuring photosynthesis · 2012

Young pua kala seedling growing in soil — Pua kala seedlings

Rows of potted pua kala plants in a greenhouse experiment — Herbivory tolerance experiment · 2011

Orange latex emerging from a cut pua kala stem — Orange latex of pua kala

Yellow flower of the Mexican poppy Argemone mexicana — Mexican poppy · *Argemone mexicana*

White pua kala flower viewed from above — Pua kala flower

Nearly prickle-free pua kala seedling in a field experiment — Poppy garden experiment · Waimānalo, 2014

Researchers examining Argemone herbarium specimens at UNAM — Herbarium research at UNAM · 2015

Four Poppy Project team members in a Mexican botanical garden — Poppy Project team · Mexico, 2015

Poppy Project field team at the Waimānalo research site — Transplanting pua kala · Waimānalo, 2015

Four members of the Poppy Project visiting ruins in Mexico — Poppy Project field trip · Mexico, 2015

References

Suissa, J. and K. E. Barton. 2018. Intraspecific and interspecific variation in prickly poppy resistance to non-native generalist caterpillars. Botanical Sciences 96(2): 168-179. PDF

Barton, K. E. 2014. Prickles, latex and tolerance in the endemic Hawaiian prickly poppy (Argemone glauca): variation between populations, across ontogeny and in response to abiotic factors. Oecologia 174: 1273-1281. PDF

Hoan, R. P., R. A. Ormond, and K. E. Barton. 2014. Prickly poppies can get pricklier: ontogenetic patterns in the induction of physical defense traits. PLoS ONE 9(5): e96796. PDF

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