Prickly Poppy 25 gram: dried herb from Argemone mexicana
Argemone mexicana belongs to the poppy family and is Mexican by origin, though it has since gone wild across large parts of tropical and subtropical America. It reaches about one and a half metres on open, dry ground: field edges, verges, waste ground. The leaves are blue green with paler veins and lined with prickles along the edges, and above them sit loose white yellow flowers. Hence the names: prickly poppy or Mexican poppy in English, and chicalote in Mexico itself.
Cut into a seed pod or a stem and a pale yellow latex seeps out. Berberine and protopine, two isoquinoline alkaloids, have been identified in that latex; morphine is not present, although it was long assumed to be. The whole plant is rich in alkaloids and the levels differ per plant part and per batch. This bag holds the aerial material, cut and dried: grey green leaf with prickly edges, bits of stem and the occasional dried petal. In Mexico and Central America an infusion has traditionally been made from it, and ethnobotanical sources mention the plant among the Aztecs and among indigenous peoples further north. That is written tradition, not an established profile of effects.
How to use the herb
For an infusion, count on roughly a teaspoon of dried material per cup. Pour hot water over it, cover the cup and let it steep for five to ten minutes; leaving it longer mainly makes it more bitter. Strain afterwards. For vaporising, users generally stay around 150 to 175 degrees Celsius. Do note that this is leaf and flower material: the seeds and the oil pressed from them are not fit for consumption.
Storage and warnings
Keep the bag firmly closed in a cool, dry and dark place, preferably in an airtight jar, and out of reach of children. Not suitable for anyone under 18 and not to be combined with alcohol. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding or using medication, talk to your doctor first. This herb is sold as a botanical product, not as a medicine, and its use remains your own responsibility.
In the same category Avalon Magic Plants carries Sinicuichi, Wild Lettuce, Klip Dagga, Mulungu, Mexican Tarragon and valerian, among others. Your order leaves our warehouse discreetly packed.
